Fate Generations
by Type-Midgard
Summary: In the year 2051, the Fuyuki Holy Grail War began once again after what should have been the end of it all. Old allies and enemies stand together or clash once again in the first and last Great Holy Grail War of Fuyuki as the fate of humanity itself hangs in the balance. Follow Toshaka Toshimi, daughter of Rin and Emiya Shirou, as she fights alongside mankind's greatest heroes.
1. Prologue: Ground Zero

This story, while original, depicts characters and concepts that are owned by Type-Moon/Notes.

This work is the first installment of seven, and while the series will not be released entirely in chronological order, it is intended to be this way. If this gets popular enough, I will continue the series beyond this and delve into the many mysteries surrounding Toshimi and her divine quest. I ask that any reviews be respectful and constructive since this is my first shot at writing a fic, and thank you all for reading!

Read Fate Lost Origin here s/13296407/1/Fate-Lost-Origin

* * *

Darkness claimed the sky as night fell and gave rise to the final day of the Sixth Holy Grail War. Tohsaka Toshimi, the twenty-seven-year-old daughter of Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin and Master in the war, steamrolled the other Masters and Servants, accomplishing feats few humans could ever dream of. The final battle of the Sixth Holy Grail War had just ended. Toshimi and her Servant, the Hound of Chulann, defeated the last two Servants and their Masters at the same time. Penthesilea, the Queen of the Amazons summoned as Berserker, as well as Scathach, the Queen of the Land of Shadows summoned as Caster, both fell to Toshimi and the Lancer Cu Chulainn.

Toshimi stood at nearly six feet tall, with back-length flowing black hair and icy blue eyes. She wore the expertly crafted Vulcan Robe, a deep crimson magus robe with black and golden designs woven into the fabric depicting Greek elements in gold and Roman themes in black, all focused around Vulcan and Hephaestus, the Patron God of Smiths in each culture. Paired with the enchanted robe was Toshimi's Azoth Staff, a golden Mystic Code whose shaft was two and a half meters long, adorned with a large onyx gem at the top of the staff, inside a ring that extended the artifact another half a meter. The lunar staff was forged with the blueprint of Durandal stored within Toshimi's Reality Marble as a model, and was clearly influenced by Egyptian culture, as the Gods of Egypt mingled with those of Greece upon the golden ring.

The Priestess of Vulcan stood beside Ireland's Child of Light, a tall man with blazing red eyes and short navy hair that seemed naturally spiked, though some stray strains fell upon his open forehead. His attire matched his hair color perfectly, consisting of a blue runic bodysuit with silver pauldrons that was stronger and lighter than normal armor as well as the famous Gae Bolg, a crimson demonic spear that was destined to kill the moment it was thrust.

The last fragments of magical energy belonging to their fallen foes faded, and finally the weary pair could relax a bit. Lancer stared at the place of the Servant that he'd faced, closing his eyes in a moment of silence. Opening his eyes with a faint smile, he turned away with a few parting words. "See ya later, teach. It was fun."

As if letting the world know that the last Servant in opposition to the winner of the war had fallen, a thunderous explosion roared in the sky above the Ryuudou Temple, the site of the final battle. In response, a 'black hole' opened in the sky, a perfect circle of darkness emitting a pale orange ring of light, bleeding into a dark crimson over several seconds. It was none other than the Lesser Holy Grail, the corrupted vessel of Angra Mainyu.

Toshimi took a nervous gulp of saliva and braced herself, holding her Azoth Staff with both hands already aglow with a green barrier produced by the Algiz Rune Magic, which projected itself as a dome around Toshimi within a second. "Lancer, get ready!"

Springing into action, her companion yelled, "Already on it, Master!" As the ruby eyed spearman clad in blue prepared his blood-red cursed lance, a much sharper crack echoed across the region, and suddenly the sinister-looking Holy Grail split in two. The offshoot of the Grail gave off a much more positive energy than it's twin, and quickly took on a new appearance as well.

The counterpart Grail came aglow immediately with a golden ring of light, and then slammed into its crimson twin as if in fierce combat, repeated seven times in rapid succession as they brutally danced across the sky. Each clash released a shockwave of rippling light from the sheer power behind each mass of energy, toppling trees and cracking stone all around them as Lancer and Toshimi were provoked to the same reaction.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?"

Thunderously, the destructive voids exploded in a wave of clashing crimson and gold as they clashed an eighth time, seeming to rend the world asunder. A momentary sense of dread overcame Toshimi as the light surrounded her. A sinister mass of darkness bearing an aura of death clasped around her entire body through the violent explosion of light, crushing the Algiz Barrier like glass. She felt her entire body begin to burn and was swallowed by the void.

#

The abyss Toshimi had been dragged into was endless, solitary, and devoid of all heat. Toshimi felt as if she were in the literal grip of death, her every cell writhing in a state of agonizing persistent decay. Billions of curses assaulted Toshimi every passing moment, each one screaming obscenities into every corner of her mind. With the voices came visions, flashes of every crime ever committed or imagined, the results of every malicious impulse of humanity.

Toshimi wanted to scream or to thrash about under the maddening flood of corruption, but the void even robbed her body of its will. For the first time in her life, Toshimi felt truly broken. It was all she could to do endure the 5.6 billion curses, and she couldn't help but wonder how her father had ever overcome them. However, a flickering flame lit inside her eyes as she suddenly heard a voice inside her head, different from all the others. It almost felt like she could reach out and touch him.

"Are you done already, Master?" It was the clear, carefree tone of her Servant, Cu Chulainn.

Toshimi first felt relief at the sound of his voice, but his words felt like a smack in the face and stoked the fires of her indominable will. She refused to die as the voices begged her to, mentally repeating her vow to the Gods with fresh resolve as if to combat the voices that could not be silenced and the excruciating pain that refused to fade.

"I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens. I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens. I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens. I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens. I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens. I swear that I will destroy all evils of Earth and restore balance to the Heavens."

Inside the void, space, time, and death were boundless. Angra Mainyu's corruption seemed as if it could have poisoned Toshimi for a minute, a century, or for all of eternity all at once- until the darkness retreated, giving way to a shining light as she gasped for the air that seemed to rush into the void along with the light.

#

Waking suddenly from the state of living death, the first thing Toshimi's tormented mind encountered was a Servant with fair skin, smooth back-length violet hair and ruby red eyes, a person that had recently become familiar to her as an enemy.

The goddess-like warrior stood over Toshimi as she lay on a rather uncomfortable bed, wearing a complicated expression veiled beneath her black and purple battle suit, a much more feminine equivalent of Cu Chulainn's runic armor. It was lacy and almost silky, not seeming to be armor at all save for Celtic-engraved silver pauldrons, but the unassuming armor was imbued with powerful ancient runes that achieved more than the same effect.

The two fought each other during the war only minutes before Toshimi blacked out, ending in defeat for the Servant and her allies. It was Scathach, the God-Slaying Queen of the Land of Shadows and teacher of Cu Chulainn in life, previously summoned as Caster in the Sixth Holy Grail War. While ordinarily she was unable to die due to having achieved a state equivalent to that of Divine Spirits and was inapplicable for the Throne of Heroes, something must have changed in the future that brought death even to her isolated domain.

The impossible Servant stood beside Toshimi in total silence, simply gazing at her with restrained interest.

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the former foe for a moment, Toshimi sat up and stared at nothing in particular, beginning to assess the situation.

Based on the information given to her by her parents, the Lesser Holy Grail would appear as a void-like 'black hole', and from it, All of the Worlds Evils would spill forth to corrupt and consume everything it touched.

Instead, that void became unstable and split into two separate entities, ultimately leading to something that had likely been what her father described, complete exposure to the curses of Angra Mainyu, and now, she had returned to reality someplace completely different.

Thoroughly stressed and practically growling, Toshimi began observing her surroundings. Around her, Toshimi found herself inside a ruined, half-collapsed building complex, lying on the bed of her scorched private quarters. That alone told her that something was seriously off. After all, she knew that 'Camelot: Ghost of the Lost Utopia' placed around the Fuyuki Branch wouldn't fall to anything the Holy Grail threw its way.

Scathach waited patiently for Toshimi to become satisfied with her observations before finally speaking, breaking the suspicious gaze of Toshimi in only moments. "These circumstances are indeed strange, _**Master**_. But I have been called forth as your Servant, of the Lancer Class. It seems for you that not long ago, we met on the battlefield as enemies. "

"What... did you say?" Toshimi's eyes widened, and she was immediately sent spiraling back into thought, once again ignoring Lancer. Toshimi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, clearing her mind. "Do not panic, Toshimi. Think."

There were two Holy Grails, her eyes could not have been mistaken. Whatever caused the split, the separated Holy Grails were clearly hostile toward each other. Toshimi knew that nothing good would come from that, nothing good at all.

There were two possibilities that seemed unlikely but possible; an immeasurable level of destruction had fallen upon an unknown distance due to the warring Holy Grails, or enough energy was present at the simultaneous Grail manifestations to rupture time and space, dragging them into a pale imitation of reality. There was also a third option that would explain everything yet would also mean that something terrible was afoot. It was possible that one of the ruling Gods, Gaia or Alaya, sensed impending destruction to the planet or humanity, and intervened to save it using their Authority as Gods to create an unpopulated parallel Earth.

Assuming one of them was involved, it would have to be Gaia. Alaya had no control over such forces and would have sent a Counter Guardian or two, most likely. Whatever the case, Toshimi was expecting yet another Holy Grail War. After all, what else would she need a Servant for?

Toshimi bowed her head to her Servant after finishing her analysis and spoke apologetically, "Sorry for ignoring you there, Lancer. As you probably know, I am Tohsaka Toshimi. While the circumstances are... unheard of, I am looking forward to working with you."

Lancer smiled and bowed her head, speaking only after roaming Toshimi's figure with a hint of jealousy in her eyes, hardly noticeable over her teasing tone. "As do I, Master. If I recall, you and my star pupil got along quite well during the last War."

Scathach's words brought a faint blush to Toshimi's cheeks, but her expression shifted as she donned a sorrowful smile, and began explaining her past with Cu Chulainn to Scathach, "Yes, well… I practically worshipped him in my youth. I do admit that I will miss him dearly, after everything... I spent much of my childhood searching for his grave and relics as something of a rite of passage, and it is my connection to him that truly set me on my path."

Toshimi thought back to her time with the Hound in the months leading up to the Sixth War as she summarized their adventure. Cu Chulainn taught her how to properly wield a spear and even the secret techniques of Gae Bolg. Just as Scathach had passed on a wealth of knowledge and techniques to her pupil, Cu had taught everything he could to Toshimi during their time together as well. Furthermore, they were together able to incorporate Rune Magic into the Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft, bringing it up to a level bordering sorcery.

"So, my student became a teacher. I can see how you were able to compete with Servants so calmly. I look forward to seeing more from you in the coming battles, Master."

With a wry smile, Toshimi stood up and turned to face Scathach and raised a fist outward as if in a challenge. "Why wait? Once we figure out what's going on, let's go a few rounds."

Taken slightly aback, Lancer smirked and stood up as well, raising her fist to her Master's. "You're on, Master. I won't lose easily as a Lancer, though!"

Without warning, a sharp spike in magical energy snapped Toshimi and Scathach's heads to the west, dominating their senses. Toshimi shook her head to dispel unnecessary thought, smacking her cheeks lightly to psyche herself up, wearing an aura of resolution while calling to her new Servant, "Lancer, let's get out of here. My gut is telling me that something bad is coming, we need to be ready."

Nodding in agreement immediately, Scathach walked beside Toshimi as she was led through the ruined base, navigating the broken structure until they neared the entrance, and were nearly blinded by a thin ray of light as they came around a corner.

Just as Toshimi knelt down to expand the gap in the wall, both women were forcefully stopped in their tracks, while Toshimi felt her Command Spell burn as if prodded by a hot iron poker.

Scathach chuckled slightly while Toshimi sighed in exasperation and straightened herself out, before a slight scarlet came back to her cheeks as she childishly glared at her companion. "Cue the bad feeling... I blame you, Lancer."

The Servant smirked in amusement, taking the blame in jest for derailing Toshimi with talk of Cu Chulainn, "I apologize, and promise that I'll keep my priorities-" At least, until she was cut off by a distortion of space originating from her own location.

Toshimi smiled softly at Lancer as they were sucked back into twisting darkness, with no idea when or where they might emerge.

#

Fuyuki City was whole and thriving. In the south as well as the west was pure forest, hiding the local Buddhist Ryuudou Temple within, along with one of Fuyuki's fallen leylines. Northern Fuyuki lay on the outskirts of the city as well, consisting of open fields and farmland, and finally the coast and the ocean beyond. Fuyuki City itself spread east, and was split between Miyama and Shinto by a river flowing out to sea, whose only crossing was the massive red 'Big Bridge'. For the most part, Miyama was mostly residential while Shinto was considered downtown, though Miyama included many shops as well as Homurahara Academy and the Temple.

The year was 2005, and six months had passed since the Fifth Holy Grail War. During their final year at school, a pair of students sat in an isolated corner by the door that was out of view from pretty much every spot on the fenced roof, or at least the ones that were worth going to.

One of the students stood up rather abruptly, and despite her refined appearance, crudely brushed off the dirt and dust from her crimson robe, which was worn over her standard school uniform. For Tohsaka Rin, this consisted of a gold vested shirt with long white sleeves, worn with a knee-length brown skirt and leather shoes, black leggings, and a crimson necktie. "Good work today, Shirou. I'll be a little bit late after school, since I have to pick up some things from my house, but I'll come by before dinner to help set up your workshop. It's time we made you my apprentice, so you better prepare yourself." After speaking to her companion, Rin smiled dangerously and elegantly flipped her silky, doll-like black hair, her left pony-tail having been slightly disturbed by the wind when she stood, then started walking toward the door from around the hidden corner to enter the building.

Emiya Shirou shifted from sitting to kneeling, mechanically cleaning the mess of encrypted magical notes as well as his lunch. The young man was of bright orange hair and clad in the standard all-gold and blue-trimmed long-sleeve uniform, and was a self-proclaimed Hero of Justice. "Thank you, Tohsaka. But won't my Reality Marble pose a problem with the Association if they find out?" he asked.

Rin stopped just before opening the door to the roof, turning back around to shoot a mild glare towards Shirou, warning him in more ways than one of the consequences of being discovered, following it up with a short lecture. "Definitely, which is why you must keep it hidden at all times. Never use even your projection outside of our workshops, under ANY circumstances." Turning back around and around the corner to open the door to the roof, Rin felt as if she were frozen in place by an insane surge of magical energy that hit her senses like a hammer from every single direction.

Emiya Shirou stood up without a moment's hesitation and looked around, struggling to his feet under the pressure of the growing mass of mana."Tohsaka, you feel that too, right?"

That question was rather stupid, but Tohsaka Rin was used to this person saying stupid things, so she moved on to figure out the situation at once, turning to face Shirou while thinking aloud. "Yeah, I feel it. I haven't felt such a large amount of Magical Energy since… the Holy Grail War."

Rin's thoughts stopped flowing from her lips as she felt the seriousness of the situation. The magical energy she felt was not that of a Servant, but it was an unimaginably large amount, which could only be produced by a Top Servant or the Holy Grail itself. Rin gasped at the realization as it hit her. "-Shirou!" Following her train of thought, Rin instinctively jumped back to try and reach out to Shirou, but it was too late, not that she could have stopped what was happening.

The world itself froze in time as her hand stretched out, and all color was drained from existence, leaving everything in black and white. After a few seconds of absolutely nothing, a blue light came into Rin and Shirou's vision, and somehow, only they could move in the world that was standing still.

In a panic, they both looked down at the source of the light.

"W-What is this?" It was no surprise that Shirou didn't know what he was seeing. After all, he never summoned a Servant properly in the previous Grail War. Rin, however, knew at first glance what was happening, and began to break it down for Shirou while reigning in her own emotions.

"…Shirou, calm down and listen to me." Despite understanding the situation, Rin struggled to remain calm. If she were by herself, she would undoubtedly be raging like a mad bull at the absurdity of what was happening, but she kept herself together for his sake, taking a deep breath before she said, "Shirou, this is a Magic Circle used for summoning purposes. To be more precise, it's for summoning Servants, usually at least..."

Shirou's eyes widened in surprise, and he too seemingly understood that there was only one thing that could be happening until he spoke, "I see. But Tohsaka, how can this be happening? It hasn't even been a year since the Holy Grail War ended. Can the Holy Grail really be active already?"

Rin let out an exaggerated sigh, fluidly transitioning to further explanation. "Shirou, the Holy Grail is not active right now. Well, it is but it isn't- That's not the point! We're being summoned by the Holy Grail just like the Servants are. The Grail is removing us from the flow of time to be summoned in a completely different era!"

With this, Shirou finally understood just how absurd it was. The Holy Grail was summoning two insignificant Magi as if they were Heroes into a distant past, present, or future. Before Rin could continue working out what was happening, the dim blue light of the summoning circles filled the vision of both Rin and Shirou. Their eyes met at the last moment, a swirl of emotion conveyed with a single glance- and then all their fear, confusion, and love were overwhelmed by light.

#

As the harsh light finally died down, Rin was lying on her side, covered in sheets and blankets much like the ones in her house. It seemed as if she had been unconscious, but she couldn't remember a single detail about what happened. Rin blanked for a few seconds and tried to remember what happened before the light engulfed her. She focused her mind and dug deep, and what brought everything back was just a memory of Shirou's smiling face. Her eyes opened wide in realization as she shot up from her bed shouting, "Of course, Shirou!" They'd just been on the roof at school, and then… And then the Holy Grail summoned them both somewhere.

Rin quickly got to her feet, and began sprinting out of her room, nearly falling through a hole in the floor in the process. However, the frazzled woman quickly brought herself to a halt only a moment after recovering her balance. This room wasn't just like her room, it was her room. "Then why…" Rin voiced her devastated thoughts, looking horrified out of her bedroom window. Rin's face paled, her mouth left agape and quivering, and clenched her teeth and fists at the same time, her panicked voice shaking with anger and fear. "If this is my room, then why is the city a complete ruin!?"

As she began to lose herself in a mixture of fear, confusion, and dread, which was extremely rare for Tohsaka Rin, a familiar monotone voice brought her out of her raging mind. "Do not worry, Rin. This is not the Fuyuki City- no, this is not even the world that you know."

Rin quickly put up her guard and turned to face the knight in red that was once her Servant with half a battle cry, "Archer!?" After yelling out the class that the knight was summoned as in the Fifth Holy Grail War, she quickly realized that he was different somehow. His skin was deeply tanned, his eyes gave off a shimmer of gold, and his hair was white as snow. The scarlet shroud worn atop his black armor was the same as well, but his expression and his aura reminded her of the Shirou that was alive.

Seeming to be aware of Rin's realization, the knight in red smiled, but even that was different from when she summoned Archer. The Archer she knew would always smirk cynically, while the smile this one gave off was gentle and caring to the core, and even his voice seemed kinder now. "It's no surprise that you are confused, Rin. However, my class is Caster, and I am not the same existence as the Archer from the Fifth Holy Grail War, either."

Rin slightly lowered her guard. Everything about him reminded her of Shirou. As Rin pieced it together, she mumbled, "It can't be…"

The knight of the Caster class chuckled slightly, seeming to enjoy Rin being flustered, as it was usually a rare sight that surely would never occur as often as this day. "Rin. Your thoughts are correct. I am the Heroic Spirit Emiya Shirou. Just like the Archer that was once your Servant, I am what Emiya Shirou will become, as long as history remains unchanged. Although… Unlike him, I am a true Heroic Spirit, not a miserable slave to Alaya like the Counter Guardians."

Rin stared at Servant Shirou, left utterly baffled for a few seconds while mumbling, "Shirou, but…" Rin quickly shook her head to clear her mind of everything that was not currently important, and transitioned from practically whispering to an outburst of frustration. "Enough of this, Shirou. Explain what's going on! And do you know where my Shirou is!?"

Rin's word choice nearly made Caster roar with laughter, but he managed to hold it in long enough to start explaining his understanding of their predicament. "Alright, alright. From what I know, this is the Seventh Holy Grail War. It appears that, for some reason, the Holy Grail dragged everyone out of time and space through a dimensional rift that occurred when the Holy Grail became active for the Sixth Cycle."

Scratching the side of his head in thought for a moment before furrowing his brow in apparent unease, Servant Shirou seemed to understand something that he decided not to voice. "However, even the Holy Grail shouldn't be able to do that naturally, so there must have been major interference with the manifestation of the Grail. No doubt Avenger would have played a part as well…"

Caster slowed his speech towards the end and seemed to trail off into unpleasant thoughts. A few moments later, Servant Shirou spoke so softly that Rin couldn't even read his lips, but she did notice the flicker of darkness in the grown Shirou's eyes, what seemed to be a mixture of sadness, hatred, and even a hint fear. "This time, we'll end him..."

Just gazing at Caster's pained expression became too much to bear for Rin, having seen it six months ago in the Shirou that still lived. After Sakura was corrupted into The Shadow by her adoptive grandfather Matou Zouken, Illyasviel von Einzbern was killed during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Shirou's spirit had nearly broken as a result of the two losses of his loved ones. Whether the expression on Caster's face was a memory from those times, or from something Rin had yet to encounter, she could not stand by and watch him suffer. With slight hesitation, Rin took a step toward him with a halfway extended hand. "Shirou, is everything alright?"

Mild shock brought Caster out of his trance, but was instantly replaced by a sigh of relief and a warm smile. Crossing his arms and shifting his weight to his left leg, Servant Shirou spoke with a hint of embarrassment. "Y-Yeah, sorry to worry you. It's just that... I was remembering the events leading up to my death." Shirou didn't want to talk to Rin about his death at all, as was evidenced by his increasingly uncomfortable expression.

This didn't stop Rin of course, as she swiftly stepped forward and took his hands into hers, holding them together with all her strength. "It's okay. Tell me what happened, Shirou."

Caster took a deep breath and nodded mostly to himself, gently pulling Rin with him so that he could lean against the wall beside the window, averting his gaze to their entwined hands as he remembered his dying moments. "At some point between 2022 and 2049, Angra Mainyu managed to possess a human being similar in nature to himself. Not a single person on Earth noticed that fact, allowing Avenger to start pulling strings from the shadows- clearly, that was to reestablish the Fuyuki Grail Wars after the Greater Grail was dismantled."

Nervously swallowing her saliva, it was clear that Rin understood just how bad that was. With Angra Mainyu released upon the world and freely planning his revival, countless people were certain to die. Rin could hardly stomach the idea that he might have been able to unleash even a portion of All the Worlds Evils. Falling victim to that was a fate she wished on nobody. "No way..."

Caster nodded solemnly and continued recounting what seemed to be the rise of Angra Mainyu. "About four months after I estimate that he became noticeably active, I caught the scent of a mysterious worldwide killing spree involving seemingly unrelated incidents, which led me across four continents and eventually to Rome in early 2050. However, Avenger must have known I was after him and led me there. He set up an ambush outside the city to take me by surprise, and he wasn't alone. Whatever those things he contracted were, they barely resembled humans beyond their shape. They were just... shadows with a huge power output that behaved like Heroic Spirits. I used every ounce of strength I had to defeat them and, in the end, I traded my life to destroy his vessel."

Rin opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words she wanted to tell him. "How awful..." Like a marionette with its strings cut, her body slackened where she stood, the only exception was her left hand clutching her heart in sorrow, searching for the words she needed to tell him.

"But..." Speaking before Caster could push off of the wall with his back and step towards Rin to ease her worries, a faint smile emerged on Rin's face and her eyes began to glisten with emotion. In the next moment, she released Shirou's hands and reached up to softly thump the scarlet knight in the center of his black breastplate with the back of her hand, much to his surprise, beaming up at him with a mixture of pride and admiration. "I always knew you were a hero. I'm so proud of you, Shirou."

As the words left her mouth, Caster stepped forward with a heavily suppressed grin and gently laid his hand upon her head, stroking her hair affectionately. "Thank you, Rin. I only came this far thanks to you."

Rin began blushing profusely, closing her eyes for a few seconds as she resigned herself to the embarrassing gesture. As expected of Toshsaka Rin, she flashed between 'tsun' and 'dere' like flipping a switch. "Y-You're damn right you did."

Shirou snickered so hard at her reaction that he had to step back and get some space, nearly breaking out into full-blown laughter. Wiping a tear from his eye, he chuckled one last time and leaned back against the wall with his shoulders.

Narrowing her eyes into an embarrassed glare accompanied by a single throbbing vein above her right eyebrow, Rin had no choice be to endure his teasing, or find something else to talk about. With the bombshell of Shirou's death out of the way, she also needed to figure out where the Shirou of her time had gotten off to.

"If you're done laughing at me, we have some business to take care of." Taking a breath to calm herself and her blushing cheeks, Rin paused and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "The first thing we need to do is find-"

Caster perked up out of his momentary silence and smirked in a joke-mockingly way as he interrupted and finished her sentence. "- _your_ Shirou?" It was almost as if he'd been waiting for the subject to be brought back up, just to make fun of her.

Immediately after the words left Caster's lips, Rin stepped back with a terrifyingly embarrassed expression, so red in the face that she risked passing out. With no witty comeback, she nodded stiffly while averting her gaze in her classic awkward manner.

Caster, smiling victoriously, obliged Rin and said, "Well, yeah. I think I know where he is. Shirou should be back at his house, probably having a similar conversation with his Servant. I don't actually remember any of this, so I'm just basing it on our own circumstances."

Rin nodded and started walking to leave her room, talking slowly as she dedicated half of her brain to tearing through her memory for anything that might relate to the current predicament.

"Alright, then let's go. We can't waste any time, being so uninformed…"

Caster nodded and entered his spirit form silently as he began following Rin.

However, he was suddenly forced back into his physical form, and alongside that, Rin's new Command Seals began to glow, searing with pain as she yelled in exasperation, "What now!?"

Unlike before, there was no time to think about what was happening. Instead, both Rin and Caster were suddenly transported through space, just like when Command Spells are used to transport Servants.

* * *

"Camelot: Ghost of the Lost Utopia" is a powerful bounded field with numerous layers, each designed to serve a unique purpose.

The "Fuyuki Branch" is a section of the Mages Association that was created after the mysterious death of Emiya Shirou for the eventual return of the Holy Grail War. It is formally headed by Rin, but as she resides in London under the tutelage of Zelretch, actual command of the base is left to Toshimi.


	2. Chapter 1: Assembly of Heroes

As the distorted space opened, Rin and Caster were thrust back into reality surrounded only by heaps of rubble that were the scattered remnants of Homurahara Academy. In this lifeless world, Rin could hear only the breath of herself and Caster behind her, and could smell naught but stone, dirt, and rotting wood. As silence reigned Rin could almost hear the rapid pulse of her own heart.

However, Rin quickly found that they were not alone. Twelve other people, six Masters and six Servants, all lined up with the Masters in front and their Servants standing behind them were also present. Each pair stood ten meters apart and seemed just as panicked and surprised as Rin and Caster.

Rin was the first in line, and she nearly yelped in shock before her eyes instantly found the young Shirou, her mind failing to process the figures of anyone else. He was fine, unsurprisingly, though he was accompanied not by the King of Knights as she expected, but a tanned woman with the same style bun in her straight black hair.

There were two other Master/Servant pairs between them, though Rin's tunnel vision for Shirou failed to pay them any attention, and she briefly considered walking over there immediately. Before she could give in to or resist the impulse, she seemed to only just notice the behemoth of a Servant standing practically right beside her. Next to Rin in line was Illyasviel von Einzbern and the colossal lead-toned Berserker, Heracles.

Illyasviel, despite actually being older than Rin and Shirou by a year, was a small childlike girl with silver hair, pale skin, and crimson eyes, dolled up in a purple coat with a white scarf and a matching purple cap and pair of boots. The giant warrior stood roughly two meters tall and had practically the mass of a man in each muscular limb- each arm also sporting jagged, bony protrusions jutting out the back of his elbows. His chest was bare while his unruly mess of hair reached halfway down his back, wearing only an armored leather skirt, as well as bracers and anklets.

They had formed a brief alliance during the Fifth Holy Grail War, only for the stunted homunculus to be murdered by a Servant that should not have existed.

After discovering the Shadow with Matou Zouken and deciding to confront them in what should have been a victory, Rin, Shirou, and Saber emerged from the war-torn Matou Residence to find a battle-scarred street, with portions of the nearby buildings totally blown out. Heracles stood with dozens of holes in his massive body filled with swords and spears, slowly fading away while bound by a length of flawless chain from every direction. While literally in the process of death and magical deconstruction, Berserker's mindless form still strained against his bindings. Illyasviel herself was in the grasp of the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, and the pair watched as the golden king ripped out Illya's heart and tossed her body aside with an amused smirk.

Pulling Rin out of her flashback, a soft golden light appeared in front of all those present, at first just a tiny orb, slowly growing in size and intensity. All fourteen people could do nothing but stare in surprise as the light spread out before them radiantly.

As the mass of light grew to a diameter of about 5 meters, the light retreated almost instantly to its origin point to reveal an ornate golden chalice, shining brilliantly, and finally showed its form as the fabled Holy Grail. The divine goblet was decorated in an old language unknown to man, over a dozen ancient gemstones along the rim that seemed to glow from within while each shifting into different colors by the second, and engraved art depicting Adam and Eve standing before the Garden of Eden and its creatures in the background.

Everyone instantly knew what it was. The Holy Grail was truly right in front of their eyes. Glares were fired like bullets at the nearest person with few exceptions, until they realized that nearly every face present was familiar to them. The tension in the air was cut almost before it could form.

Rin and Shirou's eyes found The King of Knights in her royal blue dress, armored at the chest and skirt as well as with wrist-length gauntlets and shin-high boots. Many others also grabbed their attention as their eyes darted between the Masters and Servants- old friends, foes, and even family. The Grail began to glow once more before anybody could act, it's form changing yet again.

This time, the light was a harsh white, but it did not spread out, instead retaining shape as it morphed into the form of a person. Even Rin was surprised, and if she hadn't been so thoroughly entranced by the light of the Grail, she would have noticed that everyone else was doing much the same thing.

The radiant humanoid shape soon filled out completely, inch by inch turning into the form of a woman. Due to the blinding light she was giving off, only her inverted silhouette of light could be made out at first. The light-clad woman landed softly upon the ground as the light began to fade, or at least seemed to, instead simply forming into clothing and armor.

Rin and Shirou were completely taken off guard, as the woman closely resembled Saber. She wore a white dress with bare shoulders and steel armor that mostly covered her waist, belly, and lower ribs, as well as elbow-length gauntlets and black leggings trimmed with white fur underneath her knee-high boots. Like the King of Knights, she had long blonde hair though styled in a thick thigh-length braid, and she also possessed the aura of a peerless holy warrior.

Artoria herself knew who the holy maiden was from the moment she revealed herself, having been mistaken for her in the past. The memory sent a momentary chill down her spine, thinking back to her battles with Gilles de Rais and his foul demon spawn.

When the light had completely faded, the woman finally opened her strikingly pure amethyst eyes, scanning the group of Masters and Servants for a moment before testing her hands a few times, staring at them in wonder as her fingers curled. With a slight nod, she turned her attention back to her new soldiers and spoke. "Greetings, heroes of the past, present, and future. I am Jeanne d'Arc, and I have manifested as Ruler by the Earth's own will. As we are pressed for time, I will cut to the chase. We have been brought together for but one purpose; To stop the 'Calamity' known as the Holy Grail from bringing any more ruin to the world."

Interrupting Ruler, a hulking man clad in muscle-defined Hellenistic skirted bronze armor and a flowing crimson cape stepped forward with his arms crossed, furrowing his thick scarlet brows as he glared fiercely with his blood-red eyes at the Holy Maiden. "Hold on a moment. The Holy Grail is supposed to be an omnipotent wish-granting device, is it not? How can I revive myself and set out on my next conquest if we destroy it?!" The crimson warrior seemed genuinely displeased at the thought of his dreams of conquest coming to an end, but his misgivings were quickly put at ease with an amused smirk from Ruler.

"Not exactly, Rider. As you've seen, I myself am currently a manifestation of the Holy Grail. However, the Grail that has given me form is not exactly the one you are familiar with. The Grail that you know has been tainted by 'Evil'. Some here have even destroyed its vessel in the past, rather than wish upon it… It is this Grail that we wish to destroy, permanently."

Rider tilted his head a bit, clearly unfamiliar with the situation. Ruler's lips twitched ever so slightly into a smile as she continued her speech uninterrupted, crossing her arms in a relaxed posture with most of her weight on the right side.

"No matter. The point is, we are at war. The Tainted Grail was summoned at the end of the Sixth Holy Grail War, and Gaia manipulated the scattered mana accumulated by the continuous destruction of the Holy Grail since the Third Cycle to create me- a second Holy Grail tied directly to the first, yet whose 'foundation' is completely different. I managed to pull the Tainted Grail into this 'Pocket Reality' with Gaia's assistance. The other Grail likely manifested as Avenger, or Angra Mainyu. However, we are utterly incapable of interacting with each other. Doing so would collapse this reality and risk harming our own. Therefore, I have summoned all of you here, as it has summoned its own group to fight us."

Ruler shifted her weight to the left side, letting her gaze wander from the furthest end of the line to settle upon Shirou, who stood near the middle. "As a few of you have seen, when a Master and Servant have claimed the Tainted Grail in the past, only blood and fire have been left in its wake. No fantastical wishes or glory have been won from it. If it were to have my power, the destruction would engulf the world easily."

Rider frowned and scratched the back of his head, sighing in resignation. He was not alone, however, as mostly everyone else seemed convinced- the only exceptions being a handful of Servants.

Now, Ruler let her eyes roam between all of the Servants, speaking directly to them. "For you Servants, this may not be of immediate consequence… However, should I destroy the taint of Angra Mainyu and take in the other Grail's power, it will create what is an existence much like your "Greater Holy Grail", what the World has dubbed the Pure Holy Grail. Free of evil taint and with a fundamentally different construction, it will be able to truly grant any number of wishes. I do believe that should be enough for the Servants to care?"

Everyone was silent. The only thing to be heard was the gulping down of saliva from nearly every Master and Servant present. Despite the convincing argument, one Servant had something left to say. He was the one person who had most cause of all to mistrust the Holy Grail.

"This sounds too good to be true."

The man who spoke up against Ruler was clad in a rough black suit concealed by a trench coat, with unruly black hair and half-dead eyes. Several people present instantly recognized this man to be Emiya Kiritsugu by the sound of his voice alone.

Shirou had been staring in disbelief for most of Ruler's introduction, having caught sight of him before she appeared, and was unable to completely process what he was seeing. He knew that his father had been a Master in the Fourth Holy Grail War. But never did he think that he would see him again, especially not like this.

Artoria was taken aback as well, but not for the same reason. Her issues with him had been resolved partly at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, and further while fighting alongside Shirou and learning Kiritsugu's true reason for destroying the Grail during the Fifth, so it wasn't out of dislike either.

Kiritsugu was standing behind someone. He was standing in the place of a Servant, and the magical sense Saber got from him confirmed it. Their thoughts were cut short when Ruler finally spoke up.

"It is no surprise that you see it that way. If you'd like, I can show you that my words are true. I will use the power of the Grail I represent to grant you one wish. While I cannot make powerful wishes with only my power, the result should be more than enough to serve as proof."

Kiritsugu's eyes twitched for a moment. He was good at telling when someone was lying; Human, Magus, or even Servant. But all his being told him that her words rang true. However, if she was telling the truth… "Very well. In that case… I ask the Holy Grail to permanently activate the Sheathe of Excalibur that lies in my chest. Give power to my Noble Phantasm, Avalon."

Emiya Kiritsugu was full of surprises, announcing to all that he had fused the legendary King Arthur's sheathe with his body in life. Normally it was a one-time use Noble Phantasm in which, for a few minutes, would activate and regenerate all wounds only to fall back into dormancy, symbolizing his short possession of the Divine Construct.

Ruler seemed surprised, but she quickly smiled as if she admired his clever use of the wish, wondering if he knew the true implications of it. "Normally, I would not be able to alter a Noble Phantasm, as it is a crystallization of your legend rather than a physical artifact, but the World, as Excalibur's original contractor, can allow it to recognize you as a true owner of the sheathe. It shall not work for you exactly as it did during the Fourth Holy Grail War, though. Instead it must adhere to the legend and fall back into dormancy until it is called upon once again, due to its nature as a Noble Phantasm. However, the period of use will be longer and noticeably less draining to utilize."

With this, the Magus Killer had spectacularly taken advantage of squeezing a wish from the Grail to gain an advantage in the coming battles and much further beyond. Smirking triumphantly, he spoke as he felt something of a placebo- his memory of Avalon came to life within him, his blood seeming to surge with energy before fading away into the depths of his being. "This war… is already over."

Those words made the few Masters and Servants who didn't know who he was glare towards him for his arrogance. They were quickly shut down not by Kiritsugu, but Ruler. "Such confidence. As expected of one of the few here who 'truly' won a Holy Grail War."

Everyone's heads snapped his way once more, this time in disbelief. Even Kiritsugu was a bit surprised at what Ruler said. "So, the Holy Grail itself has decided that I won, despite having never even touched it, much less given it a wish- no, I guess I just did… I'm not sure if I should feel honored or insulted."

As he spoke, Kiritsugu felt a vaguely familiar presence and glanced to the left side at Saber, who was still staring at him with what seemed to be a smile. His eyes widened in surprise within moments, not at Saber, but at Irisviel standing in front of her on the verge of tears. She wore a burgundy blouse tied up in a black ribbon across her chest, a white skirt, and black tights underneath white thigh-high boots.

"Surprisingly humble of you, Assassin. Soon, we will begin devising a strategy against Avenger. Before that, however, I believe it would be best if you all got acquainted with each other. Do not worry about your timelines being affected by interacting, none shall remember these events once this battle is over, even the survivors."

Almost as an afterthought, Ruler added, "Oh yes, one last thing. You have probably noticed that you have all your memories from previous Grail Wars, or other occurrences of being summoned, even though you normally would not. Gaia saw to it that we would be familiar with each other as best as possible, so that we may co-operate most efficiently."

After the holy maiden finished speaking, she simply turned away from them all with a wave of her hand, staring off to the far east.

Almost everybody sent cautious glances at the rest of the Masters and Servants, except for a handful of people. Shirou took immediate action, furrowing his brow in thought and marching towards Kiritsugu with Archer, while Rin and Caster steadily closed the gap between them with a rather impressive speed walk. Rin was confused by how Shirou was acting and how he was connected to that gloomy-looking Servant, but she focused on quickly observing the others for now, since her questions would soon be answered. Rin's eyes began to tear up immediately at the memory of the girl she walked past, whose death still haunted the back her mind.

Illyasviel von Einzbern was frozen in place with uncertainty, unable to decide how to feel about seeing her Father again, and ecstatic about reuniting with Shirou and her Mother as well. With childlike hesitation, Illya began walking over towards Kiritsugu following Rin, seeming to become more resolute with each step. Illyasviel spared only a glace to Rin before she turned back to her family, but that was almost more than Rin felt that she deserved.

Heracles thundered away from Illya with only the clamor of his massive lead-toned body, mindlessly turning over slabs of ruined concrete, wood, and stone as he came upon them. It seemed like he was searching for something specific, actually taking care not to shatter any rubble he took a liking to. If there was anything close to a Berserker acting cute, this was it. The mad warrior had clearly taken a liking to the weapon prepared for him during his last War.

Irisviel von Einzbern was in the company of a sympathetic Artoria Pendragon, much further down the line between Shirou and Kiritsugu, who placed a hand on the adult homunculus' shoulder as she fought back tears. Irisviel felt many emotions at the sight of her daughter and husband, but more than anything, she was sad. Her little girl was flanked by a hulking Berserker hardly having aged a day since they last met. How else was she supposed to feel, knowing they were preparing for war?

The third homunculus in attendance was obviously similar in appearance to Illyasviel and Irisviel, all based on the same genetic foundation. She seemed to be in her late teens and carried herself with grace as she accompanied Kiritsugu towards his wife. Mayasviel von Einzbern wore a white long-sleeved robe with a short turtleneck, trimmed with silver along every edge. On the back of the otherwise simple dress, the silver trim rose up as intricately woven roots, converging into a thick trunk and spreading out again into countless branches, depicting the Tree of Yggdrasil whose branches rose over her shoulders to wind around the sleeves.

Ripping her eyes from the emotional scene spreading out before her, Rin did a double-take as her gaze fell upon the young Japanese man neighboring Illya in line, who didn't seem like he was going anywhere at all. He appeared rather ordinary, wearing a golden uniform with oaken hair and eyes, simply staring at Rin with wide eyes and a tinge of scarlet in his cheeks.

Behind him stood the King of Conquerors, Alexander the Great, a tall man with blazing scarlet hair and a rough beard, a tower of bronze muscle and armor. Laughing heartily while smacking his Master between the shoulders, he seemed to be making fun of his partner, who was forced to wave his arms about in circles to regain his balance.

Rin almost wanted to laugh at the blissful carefree attitude of Rider, smiling faintly as she abruptly turned towards the end of the line with strained eyes. She could have sworn that she saw a grown version of herself accompanied by a beautiful female Servant in the corner of her eye, at the very end of the line beyond Assassin and his Master. But when she took a closer look, they had disappeared without a trace.

Rin narrowed her eyes in thought where they had been, uncomfortably putting that mystery behind her as well, for the moment. Seeing as time was of no relevance to the summoned Masters, the mystery woman could have been any number of her relatives, even those yet to come. Trying to figure her out would just end up a waste of effort.

Having gotten a good look at everyone but Lancer and her Master, Rin looked back towards Assassin. As her eyes backtracked, she noticed first that Assassin alone had joined Irisviel and Saber, while his Master continued on with a polite nod, seemingly interested in something else entirely. She had begun to approach Berserker, of all possible choices.

Irisviel and Kiritsugu were inseparable, the former clinging to her husband instantly while she held back tears, smiling. He was smiling as well, embracing her around the waist with his right arm while his open left hand lay across the back of her head, keeping them close.

Rin found that Rider had formed a small gathering of those not joining the group forming on Kiritsugu, which included her assumed relative and Lancer, a shapely female Servant wearing black and purple silks. Whatever they were discussing seemed urgent, as even the wild King of Conquerors had stopped fooling around.

Shirou finally reached his father, and the first to speak was Kiritsugu, who took a few steps away from his wife with blank shock all across his face, his eyes wide open and beginning to wet with emotion. After a short moment of silent staring, he hesitantly reached out towards his son.

"Shirou…?"

Hearing Kiritsugu say his name nearly made his heart stop. Shirou swallowed his rapidly accumulating saliva and calmed himself, and then spoke, firmly shaking his father's hand with a smile.

"Father… You… look well."

Managing a faint smirk as his features settled, Kiritsugu released his son's hand and scratched the back of his head as he looked over the cheerful amazon behind him, who idly swayed to and fro with her arms wrapped around themselves behind her back, even down to her entwined fingers. Archer bowed her head as their eyes met but didn't seem to have any intention of speaking yet, much like Saber.

"Yeah… It feels like I just saw you, and now… You've really grown up, son."

They both looked like they were struggling to fight back a few man tears, and it finally dawned on Rin when she arrived that this man was Emiya Kiritsugu, Shirou's adoptive father. She quietly stood beside him, letting them have their moment with a soft smile and a bow of the head in greeting.

"A lot has happened... The Holy Grail War, for one."

Frowning, Kiritsugu had already long realized that he was wrong to assume the War was over with the destruction of the vessel, but for Shirou to have participated so young almost seemed to hurt.

"So in the end I broke the cycle along with the vessel. I really mucked that one up..."

As Illya got closer to her family, she felt conflicted. She undoubtedly loved Shirou and even her father, once Saber came out and admitted to being the former Servant of Kiritsugu. Saber and Shirou held the answers to everything she wanted to know about her father during and after the Fourth Holy Grail War, and riding on those returning memories and emotions, she began sprinting straight at Shirou's back.

Shirou's thoughts came to a grinding halt when he heard the soft footsteps of Illya running toward him, and Shirou instantly turned to face her. He almost didn't believe his eyes, and hugged his adoptive older sister as she jumped into his arms.

"I-Illya!"

"Onii-chan!"

Illya's appearance lightened the mood considerably, drawing smiles from Rin, Shirou, and Kiritsugu; after they got over the surprise. Shirou was especially surprised, as the memory of her death and his inability to save her were still fresh in his mind.

From the muffled sniffling in Shirou's arms, Illya fought back her tears and let go of Shirou, dropping to the ground and turning towards her father while Shirou stepped aside with a smile.

"Illya…"

Kiritsugu gulped, as he stared at the small form of his daughter. He knew she wouldn't have gotten much bigger, despite being acquainted with the adult Shirou, but it still pained his heart to see.

"Kiritsugu!"

Illya's tears finally started falling as she ran up to her father, jumping into his arms and clinging to him so tight she nearly choked him. She let up after a few seconds, still refusing to let go as she buried her head into his chest.

Irisviel snuck up from behind and laid a hand on Kiritsugu's shoulder. Her smile gave off nothing but warmth, and the three embraced in silence. Kiritsugu had become so overwhelmed by the various emotions from being reunited with his precious family that he couldn't squeeze out a single word as a single tear fell across his cheek.

Artoria smiled warmly at Shirou and Rin from behind Irisviel, and they each gave a silent bow in greeting so as not to disturb the hugging trio. The Amazonian stared blankly at Saber, or more specifically, her hair. Her gaze combed every strand of the golden bun she wore, clearly bothered by the similarity to her own. When she seemed satisfied however, Archer simply smiled wide, grinning like an idiot.

Shirou couldn't help but smile, happy to see his family all together like this. It was something he hadn't felt since before the Holy Grail War. He felt… whole. The feeling momentarily crumbled when he realized that it wouldn't last.

Rin snaked her fingers in between Shirou's immediately as she seemed to sense his unease, taking his hand as if saying that she would never leave his side, conveying all her thoughts and emotions without a single word.

That was all Shirou needed, regaining his smile with a soft squeeze of Rin's hand. Her cheeks were tinted rose as she looked the other direction, and her eyes fell on her lookalike, giving her something to hide her embarrassment.

Toshimi simply smiled in return to Rin's gaze, and began walking her way with Lancer and the other Einzbern Homunculus, Mayasviel, who had moved on from the idle Berserker to join whatever discussion they were having. They walked beside the King of Conquerors and the brown-haired youth that was his Master, looking back and forth between each other as they continued their conversation.

Looking back, Rin saw the loving family reluctantly let go of each other, prompting Irisviel to look over Shirou with childishly jealous eyes. After all, it was the sight of Shirou that drew Kiritsugu away, all but forgetting about her.

Realizing this after a moment, Kiritsugu chuckled a bit, waving his arm as he gestured from Shirou to Irisviel. "Allow me to introduce you. Shirou, this is my beautiful wife and the mother of Illya, Irisviel. She also fought together with Saber and I in the Fourth Holy Grail War as my proxy. It seems fitting now that she truly is Saber's Master."

Looking to the beaming Irisviel, he motioned towards Shirou.

"Iri, this is Shirou. I adopted him when I found him in the aftermath of the War. He was a very kind young man that couldn't resist helping others in need, when I died. I only hope I didn't pass on my bad qualities..."

Beaming, Irisviel ran up to him and pulled him into her arms around the shoulders. Even if he was adopted, she had gained a son- and one that seemed to have inherited Kiritsugu's dream as well.

"I'm glad to meet you, Shirou. It feels strange to suddenly have a new member of the family, but I look forward to learning more about you."

Shirou blushed from the surprise, but he quickly cleared his mind and smiled, briefly letting go of Rin's hand to return his adoptive mother's embrace.

"Thank you. There's a lot I'd like to talk to you about, all of you."

As the two separated, Kiritsugu's eyes finally drifted off of Shirou and onto Rin. He knew she looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. The woman before him had a clear air of nobility around her, for sure. At the very least, she thought more highly of herself than the average magus. Kiritsugu wasn't sure if that was good or bad, yet. It was only then that he noticed that her and Shirou were holding hands, causing him to be actively interested.

"Shirou, who is this young woman with you?

Growing hot in the cheeks from the not-so sudden question, Shirou lightly squeezed Rin's hand in his own. Rin smirked and nudged him after he remained silent and nearly frozen, attempting to provoke a response. When she got none, Rin smiled and sighed faintly at his uncharacteristically cute reaction, and then looked towards Kiritsugu with what seemed to be a merciless grin.

"My name is Tohsaka Rin. Shirou has told me much about you, Father."

Shirou's face became tomato red in a flash, and he looked star-struck for a moment. Kiritsugu felt similarly, but he knew the name. This girl was Tokiomi's first born, likely a powerful magus. At least she didn't seem to share _most_ of his cruelty. Kiritsugu stared at his pathetic-looking son, then back to Rin.

"Father, eh?"

Irisviel chimed in as well. "It looks like Illya's got a sister now too."

Halfway scowling as she stared at Rin, Illyasviel turned her head aside with a ' _Hmph_ ', peeking out the corner of her eye moments later. "I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing..."

Rin smirked again and shot a sideways glare at Shirou telling him to man up or die, and he seemed to recover enough to speak. No matter how much time passed, Shirou knew that his best friend Issei had always been right. Tohsaka Rin was truly a demon.

"Y-Yes… We're planning on getting married after we move to London in a few months."

"London, huh..." Kiritsugu smiled and laid his hand upon his son's shoulder. "Congratulations, Shirou. I only regret that I can't be there to see it."

The Emiya Family Reunion ended abruptly as Toshimi arrived with Lancer, Rider and his Master, as well as Mayasviel following close behind, and walked straight up to Ruler. Everyone else turned to face them in curious silence. Jeanne d'Arc failed to give any acknowledgement of their presence at first, but she knew they were there.

"We have devised a plan for the coming battle."

Ruler turned around to face them with crossed arms, and her eyes met directly with Toshimi for a moment, each gauging the other. "Let's hear it, then."

Toshimi merely smiled and motioned to the King of Conquerors. "I've been discussing our plan with Rider. He and his Master will take to the skies on his chariot while I lead the vanguard with Lancer. Illyasviel and Mayasviel, along with Berserker and Assassin, will pair up and stick close as they attempt to flank the enemy, not necessarily fighting together, however. Making use of Assassin's mobility and experience will be key. Saber, Archer, Caster, and their Masters will act as our core, searching the city for Avenger's Servants. Should anyone find themselves in a dire situation, Assassin or Lancer will break off from combat and go to their aid, even if they must leave their Master behind. Illya will be safe with Berserker and Maya, and I can handle myself well enough against any hero. If the enemy possesses powers that require a special touch, we can figure something out on the fly. We should keep an open line of communication to help with that."

Ruler was surprised at the well-thought-out and hastily made plan, nodding in agreement. "Very good. We shall commence with this plan, but I must add something that I seem to have forgotten to mention. The only one that I cannot fight is Avenger. I am more than capable of destroying the other Servants, though they can defeat me as well. Should they do so, I would be forced to revert into my form as the Grail and likely be taken back to Avenger."

Toshimi's ears perked up at the statement of Ruler, smirking while considering her options. "Alright, that's a double-edged sword though... Consider yourself an independent force, just try not to charge into the thick of it or get too close to the outskirts, so you can be easily reinforced. Put yourself in absolutely no danger unless the situation is truly dire."

Smiling, Ruler nodded. "Indeed, a sound plan. I hope you and your family continue to serve me well." Ruler's eyes scanned the group of over half of the force fighting under her, and returned to Toshimi. Her statement combined with her visual indication confused the entire group, except for Rin. She alone had a feeling about Toshimi being related to her.

Caster simply smiled, clearing his throat to grab everyone's attention, and introduced her to them with a wave of his hand. "Everyone, this may come as a bit of a shock, but, my name is Emiya Shirou. And… That woman, Tohsaka Toshimi, is my daughter. She's more powerful than any Magus in our Age, and that was _before_ my death. I'm quite proud of her."

Almost everyone eyed Toshimi appraisingly, unsure how true her father's words and implications could be until they realized that the Old Gods were plastered all over her robe and staff. Even Rin found that statement dubious, as the face of Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg came to mind. Surely the future Shirou knew that as well, which only made the experience more confusing. How did she manage to bridge such a large gap?

Mayasviel stood idly beside the others with a smile, more than just a witness to the truth of that statement. As both a student and a companion on her adventures before the Holy Grail War, Maya knew that even Caster couldn't imagine the power she'd obtained- she had a dangerous secret, kept even from him.

Toshimi beamed at her father's introduction and praise. As soon as the expression surfaced, it was crushed underfoot along with everything else as a sinister rumbling echoed in the distance, and everyone fell silent once more.

The entire group braced themselves for an attack as a single explosion shook the earth for several seconds, causing the ground and air to quake under the force, drawing all eyes up at the source; a spire of abyssal magical energy erupting into the sky, on the other side of the city.

Ruler called out to all of them with a booming voice immediately. "The time for reunions is done! War is coming. I believe Angra Mainyu has prepared his Servants for battle and is likely already on the move." Ruler simply smirked. "They stand no chance against us. Everyone, by order of my Command Spells, defeat all who stand in our way and live to revel in tonight's victory!"

As if in a trance, every Master and Servant stood and faced Ruler, replying to the order with action, vanishing in bursts of movement and charging off into battle. The only exception was Rider, who took off like a rocket atop his lightning-charged Gordius Wheel led by two Divine Bulls, laughing as his Master clutched the rails for dear life.

* * *

In an attempt to bring the entire Nasuverse together, I have also made slight changes to the Fifth Holy Grail War, taking events from all routes and combining them into something completely different. As I do intend on going into further detail later on about these changes, I will just say that the end result is a Shirou that was ready to fight and never gave up on his ideals. While none of the characters developed more or less than in any of the canon routes, their decisions vastly changed the future.

Chapters should be released every month or so!


	3. Chapter 2: Encroaching Darkness

Avenger stood before fourteen humanoid figures, seven Masters and seven Servants, baring his teeth in crazed animalistic grin. He had just finished explaining the situation, and while a few Masters and Servants strongly disapproved of fighting under him, a flash of Avenger's Command Spells resigned them and the less vocal to their fates. Their base of operations was on the other side of the city from the Academy, located at the ruined Kotomine Church.

Angra Mainyu looked over the "heroes" that he had brought forth from the Throne of Heroes and would soon claim his other half and secure his resurrection. Choosing mostly those of an evil or independent nature, Avenger's team was composed of villains, misfits, and tyrants.

Starting from his left was a relatively short figure clad from head to toe in skirted steel plate armor, accented and trimmed with noble crimson engravings and a burgundy sash draped between the faulds of the open steel skirt. More striking than anything was the figure's horned helmet, completing the fearsome armor that was almost even more intimidating on a person of such small stature.

Standing in front of this Servant was an old mage with wildly long grey hair and a full beard, both coming down to the length of his hips. The sage figure was wrapped in a battered grey robe with rat-bitten holes all over, and he leaned onto a rough wooden battle staff in his right hand that swirled at the tip into a perfect spiral.

Beside them stood a pair that appeared refreshingly elegant, while one in particular almost seemed to demand attention. Moonlight glinted off of the solid gold armor worn by the prideful golden-haired king, putting the steel-armored Servant to his left to shame. The golden plate armor was engraved with mostly simple navy-blue designs and cloth under armor, most notably the cuneiform inscription written vertically down the center of three faults. The golden king also featured a blood-red skirt with an open front, actually drawing more attention to his glowing red eyes.

His Master was a much simpler man, wearing a scarlet suit with a white undershirt and a loose ribbon-like bow tie. The middle-aged magus had faded black hair and a goatee, and possessed a pair of calm, calculating blue eyes. The scepter in the magus' hand was made of wood and adorned with a ruby fixated at the top of the short staff, perched on a golden trimmed throne.

The crimson Magus glanced to the left at his aged former protégée, his eyes twitching into a slight glare before flashing away. The long and dark-haired priestly figure wore black vestments and a golden cross necklace underneath a royal blue cassock. His expression showed no emotion, until he felt someone staring at him and found his old master beside him. The priest's expression tightened only a fraction, and yet he couldn't help but smirk as he remembered what it had felt like to kill him.

Behind him stood a roman centurion in standard issue heavy armor and red horsehair helm, which consisted of an armored scarlet tunic and an armored skirt that fell only inches above the knee, as well as metal-plated leather boots and vambraces. The roman soldier stood with spear and shield materialized in hand. The spear was roughly two meters long and the shield was a metal-plated square shield with a layer of hard leather between the wood and metal.

Angra Mainyu was particularly interested in the next pick of his, possibly his favorite of the bunch. Both reminded him a bit of himself, and they were certainly not weak, either. The Master was young woman with violet hair and eyes with a pink ribbon tied into her hair on the left side. She wore the standard school uniform of Homurahara Academy, and clutched her chest as she looked around nervously, only for her Servant to place a calming hand upon her shoulder from behind.

The woman was tall and had beautiful, silky purple hair that, even from her height of 172 centimeters, nearly touched the ground. Her eyes were completely covered by a thick purple blindfold with two strips of metal running parallel horizontally in the center. The blinded Servant also wore a purple leather collar along with a shoulderless one-piece dress that was short cut and trimmed with purple only at the chest, and also featured detached purple-cuffed sleeves and leggings that connected straight into black leather boots crowned with purple metal plate.

Eerily staring at the schoolgirl from the next slot in line was a short, wrinkled old man that seemed halfway in the grave already, holding himself upright on a wooden cane and had a skull that seemed to jut out around the crown of his bald head to the point of deformation. His eyes were hollow and black with white pupils, and he wore a black coat atop his simple olive kimono, along with shin-high white socks and sandals.

The shrouded skull-masked figure looming behind him seemed covered from head to toe in darkness due to his black mantle along with his hunched posture, which also made him appear shorter and feebler that he truly was. No doubt the Assassin was hiding a few tricks up his sleeve, but his nature left little identifying features as to what they could be.

A young woman with dark skin and silvery purple hair tied into a ponytail that was seemingly of Indian descent stood without clear emotion into the darkness above, her eyes darting across the moonlit sky through the lenses of her glasses in search of stars only to find none. This simple fact seemed to dampen her spirit as she sighed and turned her gaze to the ground. She wore thin white gloves adorned with several golden bracelets and a white shirt cut with a low "V" that exposed the center of her chest and slightly beyond, and tight black shorts along with mismatched white and purple leggings. Above it all she wore an open white lab coat with the emblem of Tsukumihara Academy and a purple fable collar with an amethyst gem in the center.

Servant to the modern magus was a tall woman with fair skin and straight, thigh-length blonde hair and green eyes hidden beneath a black veil that fell from a spiked sky and navy-blue crown. She wore a black dress with sky-blue trim and embroidery that cut out her navel and abdomen and also lay bare her blue metal-braced cleavage, and yet she also wore sleeves that were connected across the top of her shoulders and around the neck in a collar, exposing her collarbone, underarms, and upper chest. Her only weapon was a birch branch turned staff, flawlessly white and gnarled with something resembling a crown of its own.

The last pair of Master and Servant couldn't have been more different from each other. Towering above his Master was a man with dark greyed skin that revealed all the muscle of his chest, arms, and legs, clad only in a brown loincloth and a red cape, along with minimal armor. He wore gilded greaves and thick vambraces that curved away from the forearm, as well as a helmet adorned with crimson-dyed horsehair that stood on end. The massive man held a spear whose golden diamond-shaped tip was nearly the size of a man's head and a large round shield made of solid gilded metal.

The magus that commanded this beast of a man was another young woman with silver hair and amber eyes, and she wore simple navy church robes and black laced-up boots. Underneath the robe she was almost completely wrapped in bandages that could be seen around the neck under her collar and down to her hands and ankles, sticking out from the sleeves of her robe. Unlike her Servant she hardly seemed intimidating, and the girl could hardly keep her eyes off of the other member of the Holy Church that was present, practically ignoring the blood that had begun to stain her progressively bulging bandages and robe.

Avenger's little team, while powerful, was lacking one thing however. It was nice to have willing servants, but Avenger needed something more if he was going to overcome mankind's greatest heroes, especially knowing that he would likely face the same humans that had constantly gotten in the way of his plans.

With a smirk, Avenger knew that he was about to 'fill the void'. A pitch-black aura instantly enveloped Avenger as he began to laugh maniacally to the surprise and unease of all those under his thumb, allowing the aura to solidify into a black, tar-like substance. Releasing All the World's Evils, Angra Mainyu raised a pillar of darkness into the sky, covering Sakura and the Servants in bubbling liquid curses, while shockwaves roared through the air and caused the ground to shake.

"Embrace it! The Darkness is your ally. The world will tremble before your power! Awaken my Servants and drag my enemies down to hell along with you!"

When the abyssal tower faded into nothing once more, many of the Servants under Avenger's control had become visually tainted by the darkness; More than just the Servants, however, Sakura had become shrouded in a sinister aura, taking on her ominous appearance as The Shadow. Having been summoned at a time when the fragmented Lesser Holy Grail was still part of her body, Avenger had now brought the power of two Holy Grails against Ruler. She was clad entirely in a black robe that split off into countless ribbons and hid from view her now snow-white hair and shining red eyes. Her robe seemed to be a Mystic Code of some sort that covered her from head to toe in darkness, no longer recognizable as Sakura. Dark Sakura's magical energy was so vile to the senses that even Servants felt only fear, pain, and death.

The only Servants that could resist Angra Mainyu's curses were the silver knight, golden king, and the witch queen. The ones that had been corrupted had their abilities increased by one rank in return for less control, but as instruments of war, they were nearly perfect. Avenger's plan was to let his Masters sort out the start of the battle while he sought an opening to take advantage of- He already had a plan in mind for the first day, one that he hoped would lead to a swift end of the war on the second.

Angra Mainyu sensed Ruler's Servants fly into action almost immediately, causing Avenger to let out a low growl as he smiled savagely, finishing his last command off with a demonic tone.

"Rejoice, my Servants. The feast is coming to you! Now, DEVOUR THEM!"

"DeVOur THem-!"

"DEvoUr THEm-!"

"DEVOUR THEM-!"

Repeating itself thrice in their heads, his curses forced his Servants into action, and they were off in a flicker of dark magical aura, carrying their Masters with them. Those that resisted him took off moments later, each sparing a glance back at Avenger in their own, likely rebellious thoughts.

Angra Mainyu took a deep breath as soon as they left and stared off into the sky, seeming to ignore everything else as an insane spark flashed in his eye.

"Wait for me… ALAYA!"

#

Heracles barreled down the coast of Fuyuki with Assassin scouting out ahead, using the unobstructed land to make a hasty flank of the enemy Servants while the rest fought throughout the city. The hulking Berserker left small craters with every step, each one producing an explosion of jagged earthen shards.

The giant warrior now also held a fearsome stone weapon almost as large as he was, a massive slab of stone carved into the crude shape of a sword that roared through air from just the torrential sprint Berserker bad broken into.

Mayasviel and Illyasviel followed closely behind the stampeding hero, using the Einzbern magecraft to form magically threaded "Wings of Light" to soar through the sky like an angel, Illya innocently riding on her relative's back with excitement written all over her face. Mayasviel seemed intent on scanning the distant ground and city, apparently seeing much farther than Illya could.

The gap in magical talent between them frustrated Illya a bit, sparking a growing curiosity about her unknown blood-relation. Of course, she instantly acted on this. "Mayasviel? If you don't mind me asking, how exactly are we related?"

Maya smiled as she heard the words leave Illya's mouth, not that Illya could see that from her back.

"I am part of the generation of homunculi that came after you. I was not modified to act a vessel of the Holy Grail like you, though."

Illya's eyes sparkled at the thought of what she saw as a niece. And it was true, Illya noticed. While Mayasviel looked like a doppelganger of hers, she was more physically developed and almost as tall as Irisviel, suitable to her age of seventeen. Illya would not age a day after she turned eight due to the modifications to her body, and her 'natural' lifespan would end around the age of twenty. "Then, how did you get involved in the Holy Grail War?"

Suddenly the conversation turned serious, Mayasviel's expression clouding in thought. That was no simple story to tell, however. "The short answer to that question is Avenger. However, there is something far greater than him working against the people in my time. To tell the whole tale... Well, if we survive to see the night maybe I can answer that for you."

The harbor came into view before much conversation could be made due to their speed, Assassin having already hidden himself among the shadows of fallen buildings. It seemed like something had gotten his attention, and then it hit them as well- a force of mana that seemed to lack any means of control. Kiritsugu and the Einzberns watched in awe as a speeding figure jumped across the empty, dried up river, and landed outside the window of the wall Kiritsugu was hiding behind with a small quake and a burst of visible dark magical energy.

In front of Assassin was a blackened, fully-armored Roman Centurion holding an early-period lance, nearly two meters long and held in his right hand, with a square shield in his left hand. He failed to notice Assassin due to his class skills, and began sprinting towards Berserker across the wasted farmland without hesitation.

Kiritsugu stayed in the shadows as the enemy Lancer Alter closed in on Berserker, waiting for an opportunity to strike while watching out for his Master or other enemies.

The Mad Warrior roared as the centurion approached, picking up speed and charging at each other head on.

"-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-!"

Heracles swung down his giant 'sword' of stone, and for a moment it seemed as if it would squash Lancer like a bug. However, his shield rose to meet it, taking the blow and barely pushing it aside, ringing the shield and his entire body like a gong and causing the ground to shatter underfoot.

"Damn, what a powerful blow…" Lancer tried to step in for a hasty thrust at Berserker's heart after pushing aside the bulky stone sword, only to be knocked away dozens of meters by the hammering of the giant's arcing fist, which had sent him another few dozens of meters across the ground tumbling.

The centurion shook his head to regain focus as the giant moved far faster than any Berserker should be allowed to. Before Lancer could get off one knee, Berserker's slab of a sword came rushing down towards him again, and utterly smashed the shield that rose to meet it a second time into unequal halves, leaving just a mangled mess of metal that soon faded into particles of magical energy.

The broken defense left Lancer's arm torn and bloody, but he didn't rest for even a moment, bravely sliding between the giant's legs and thrusting his lance with both hands at the base of Berserker's spine from hastily acquired footing as he spun around with the strike. Heracles reacted quickly, twisting around with a swing of his sword, aiming to blast through the roman for a mutual strike.

"Time Alter: Square Accel."

Instead, the lance that was intended to cripple Berserker was deflected by a bullet; one that had crossed well over a mile to reach its target as Kiritsugu stared through the scope of a sniper rifle in slow motion, muttering his spell through the intense pain, assaulted by what could only be described as his insides trying to rip themselves apart.

"Release Accel."

Thus, the crippling thrust diverted and sliced across Berserker's left side, also allowing Lancer to duck under his attack as the course changed. Berserker seemed to stumble and retreat onto his back foot with a quarter spin to maintain balance, severely disproportionate to his wound, glaring at the roman with such fury that the roar that came next drowned out all other noise- his veins throbbed against his lead skin, and his eyes strained and nearly exploded from their sockets.

"######################!"

Berserker's war cry turned Illya's head to the ground instantly, as she could not recall a time that Heracles seemed so distressed, not even when he confronted Gilgamesh. She was terrified; Whatever could scare a Berserker Heracles was not something she wanted to brave. However, she made the decision nonetheless.

"Maya! Take me down there now! Something weird is happening to Berserker!"

Maya could sense something strange in the feral scream as well, so nodded in silence and swooped down for a closer look. What they spotted as they approached was disheartening.

As a Berserker, the Noble Phantasm of Heracles was called God Hand, and was a stock of not just regeneration magic, but resurrection magic. Furthermore, it also made physical and magical attacks below A Rank ineffective, not that they were nullified- but because Heracles' body was simply just that strong. Berserker would heal from any fatal wound and it would then no longer be able to injure him, until he ran out of lives.

Now, Heracles had a deep gash in the side of his ribs, oozing blood as one of the ribs was cut clean through, only held together by a sliver of bone. The slash, while deep, was so thin and clean that it hardly seemed natural. Berserker, on some level, understood what that spear was, and what it was doing to him. Shedding his fear and hesitation, Heracles charged back at his foe with a war cry and an overhead strike with all his strength.

"#######!"

Gritting his teeth as he prepared his mind for another clash with the heroic brute, Lancer raised his seemingly ordinary spear to meet the giant stone blade that came swooping down from above his head gripped it with his hands from both ends. As his spear took the full force of Berserker's furious attack, Lancer felt his entire body resonate with the blow, every bone and muscle he had pushing against the weight of what felt like a building. The forces behind such a powerful attack landing burst veins all across his arms and even his legs. Lancer Alter was forced back across the ground as their weapons continued pushing against each other, leaving two parallel trails where his feet had dug into the ground.

Berserker released the pressure behind his blade and his attention seemed to linger upon the spear for just a moment. It endured the full-force blow from Heracles, without bending a centimeter and without taking a single scratch upon the surface, and yet appeared a totally ordinary bronze lance.

Lancer Alter used this moment to pull back with his strained body taking ragged breaths, an undying black flame consuming his darkened eyes.

Kiritsugu managed to fire off a few rounds to cover Berserker before he was discovered and attacked by Lancer's hidden Master. The few bullets he did get off managed to keep Lancer from resting as he leapt aside while forcing him to divert his attention- handing the initiative back to Berserker as the howling warrior rushed in for another round.

#

A 'visitor' approached Assassin from the rear, greeting him with three Black Keys which rained from above and pierced halfway into the ground. Assassin moved like a blur, avoiding them completely and coming out of the cover of the trees into the open. The dark priest did the same, emerging from the shadows as if he were one with them, smiling. "Emiya Kiritsugu."

Kiritsugu shot back a restrained glare, both former enemies staring each other down as they had once before. "Kotomine Kirei."

Kirei smirked, only earning a more intense glare that was accompanied by a spike of magical energy; and it was only then that Kirei realized his folly, sending a jolt of shock through his entire body. "You're a Servant!? Impossible!"

Kiritsugu seemed to chuckle at Kirei's surprise, only to whisper his spell in response.

"Triple Accel."

Kiritsugu tossed aside his sniper rifle as it spontaneously faded into particles of ether, drawing and leveling his Thompson Contender from thin air at Kirei's chest, firing without hesitation at his heart.

With his immense battle experience, skill, and instincts, Kirei managed to read Kiritugu's intentions and desperately lean back under the bullet with his shoulder-

-only for Kiritsugu to flash forward with a swift kick that Kirei still managed to keep up with, transitioning into a low back flip that allowed Assassin's foot to pass just over Kirei where his gut had been.

Kirei set himself right by pushing off the ground with his hands at an angle, quickly getting his feet back on the ground just in time to block a powerful right hook from Kiritsugu with both arms crossed, and the priest was still knocked away by the surprising force. Even as a low-ranked Assassin, Kiritsugu was still a Servant, and had ultimately defeated him even as a human. Kirei drew four Black Keys in each hand held like fan as he realized that he had no choice but to hold him off until a chance to escape presented itself.

#

Steel rang against stone as the brutal death match continued, Lancer on the ropes and covered in small wounds. The wounds were tiring enough, but with each powerful swing from Heracles Lancer was forced to expend his stamina merely to survive, unable to hold anything back.

Still, Berserker's wound had begun to sag, the severed rib finally breaking off under simply the stress of moving his body to fight, exposing his insides to open air while only speeding up his constant loss of blood. Even if it wasn't showing, Berserker had begun to tire as well. The giant fought on not only because of his nature as a Berserker, but also due to Ruler's Command Spell to live and see the battle won. While it didn't increase his stats like a more specific Command Spell could, it did provide a measure of focus beyond the normal Berserker.

However, after a stalemate that lasted less than a minute, Lancer's chance came. Lancer Alter moved to deliver his death stroke the moment Berserker used the last of his arm's real strength, as he brought the stone sword down from above in an arc, starting to lack the power he had shown before. But the Greek Hero wouldn't let it end there. And neither would Illyasviel, as she summoned the power of a command spell to aid him.

"Dodge it, Berserker!"

As the lance closed in towards Heracles' heart like a viper, the brutish hero released the sword in his right hand, spun around to catch it in his left while also dodging the spear, and finally slammed the flat of the sword against Lancer's left side by ramming it into him with a roaring shoulder charge before he could get away, cracking much of his armor and breaking shards of it off from his arm, leg, and chest. Even his helmet wasn't spared, cracking and breaking off nearly the entire rim on that side.

Lancer Alter's landing was surprisingly graceful despite this, managing to plant both feet on the ground and skid to a halt with the end of his spear after a dozen meters. His breathing had become wheezing, and his body and face were dripping with blood, but he did not seem discouraged. Berserker was powerful and agile, to be sure, but Lancer just needed to land one solid strike to finish the battle.

At this point, he would only have one more chance. His Master was barely holding on, and the Einzbern Masters would surely be an active part of the battle within moments. In his current state, being surrounded would be his end. Taking a particularly deep breath, Lancer moved the only direction he could; Forward.

"You shall die, Heracles!"

"##########!"

The two heroes roared as they charged at each other head on, meaning to decide their fates in one last clash. From above, Illyasviel had begun to form doves out of glimmering magical thread, sending half a dozen in her haste to save Heracles. Mayasviel acted as well, but her attack came from the wings upon her back, which released what could have been a storm of thousands of needle-like formations of their special thread, interrupting their clash moments before it occurred, and Lancer was forced to leap clear of the area to avoid the spray of needles, which merely obliterated themselves against Berserker's iron skin or plunged into the soft earth below.

Berserker reacted accordingly, planting his right foot into the ground and pushing off to form a crater as he pursued his enemy without hesitation. Howling once again, Heracles's veins throbbed from the intense flow of blood, and brought down his sword from above in order to hammer it against Lancer's head like a melon.

The blackened centurion strained and willed his body to keep up, and only just managed to brace himself for their final clash. Without even raising his spear, Lancer Alter thrust it forward with a shout, aimed not at Berserker but somewhere else.

"Spear of-"

Lancer's eyes widened as he saw the massive edge of the stone weapon closing right in on his head, threatening to smash it and cleave the rest of him in two. The tip of his spear strayed from a path to Berserker and instead found itself striking the stone weapon from the side, a faint red glow seeming to rise from within.

If only he could just reach a little bit further. Gritting his teeth and putting as much strength as he could muster seemingly in slow motion, he wretched the name of his Noble Phantasm from his throat.

"-Longinus!"

Time seemed to stutter the moment Lancer spoke the True Name of his lance. The blade of Lancer's holy spear shone with a crimson light, only a moment before it shattered Berserker's massive weapon, and rebounded to impale the giant's chest, only inches from his heart, sending gouts of blood from both ends of the wound and drenching Lancer from nearly head to toe in the blood of himself and the shuddering giant. As the spearhead sank into his iron flesh, Heracles' arm went limp and what was left of the slab of stone fell from his fingers with a pained roar.

"######==-=-=-=-=-!"

From above, a bone-chilling scream echoed across the battlefield in response, and Illyasviel's face had instantly become stained with tears. "BERSERKER!"

#

Illyaviel's blood curdling scream reached even Kiritsugu's ears, causing him to pause just before pulling the trigger on his Thompson Contender, which was aimed at the head of the kneeling form of Kotomine Kirei. What was once written on his face as resignation gave way to a determination and ferocity uncharacteristic of the priest, yelling fiercely as he summoned everything he had to escape as fast as he could. Kirei took advantage of the momentary distraction to dive off the ledge he'd been cornered into, falling out of sight into the riverbed below.

Kiritsugu, who was already torn between rushing to his daughter and finishing off his enemy, was left behind in shock, taken off guard on both accounts. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he spun around and made haste for the battle behind him immediately. The fact, however, was that Kiritsugu was too late. Pumping magical energy into his eyes to enhance and extend his vision, Assassin zoomed in his eyes like a scope to find Lancer Alter standing before a disarmed Berserker, both warriors covered in inhuman amounts of blood.

Heracles, despite his grave wounds and their inability to heal, raised his weary arm into the air in a fist, stepping forward as he tried to bring it down upon the bloody corrupted saint.

Instead, the Spear of Longinus was retched from Berserker's shoulder as Lancer Alter stepped aside, letting the hammering fist crash into the ground. The earth did not crack, hardly even causing it to tremble- every bit of his strength was already gone.

Kiritsugu watched as Lancer silently pressed the blade of the spear against the demi-god's chest, slipping into his flesh with alarming ease to claim his heart.

#

The deed was done immediately, and the hulking Greek Hero slowly began to fade into particles of light and his giant body crumpled to the ground, dead from a single life. This was the spear that pierced even the divine- the Holy Lance that embodied the legend of laying the final wound upon the body of Jesus as part of his crucifixion and touched his divine blood; The God-Killing Spear of Destiny.

Illyasviel's doves sped towards Lancer Alter from the sky, each charging up a red spark of magical energy that was released within moments as shining lasers, aimed all across his body. The swift shots could have taken the weakened Lancer down with her fallen Servant, one such beam having passed through where his head had been only a moment ago. Lancer vanished on the spot as if ripped from that region of space in a swirl of space-time that was undoubtedly the work of a command spell from Kirei.

As the ether beams missed and struck the dirt with no more than fire-cracker-like explosions, Illaysviel's mouth fell open as a flood of negative emotions came rushing in. Kiritsugu had finally arrived below them and grit his teeth as he watched Illya bury her head into Maya's back, tears streaming down her face.

"Shit..." While it could be said that the loss of Berserker was a crushing blow, and right from the onset to boot, Kiritsugu tried to reason to himself that it was better discovered against Berserker than to be used to slay the saner heroes that were blessed with Divinity, or at worst to slay Ruler and claim the Grail in one stroke.

"NOOO!"

Even so, he couldn't help but feel just as powerless as he felt in life, cursing himself as he heard Illya wailing in despair as she landed with Maya. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and relayed a telepathic message to Ruler. "Heracles was slain by the Spear of Longinus. God Hand had no effect against it. Lancer Alter and his Master are heavily wounded and have begun to retreat. If we go now, we might still be able to even the score."

Miles away, Ruler stood watch over the battle from what remained of the roof of the school. She had seen the battle through her Revelations, which came in waves as Lancer's spear brought change to Berserkers fate with each thrust. The Spear of Longinus was a huge danger to many on their side. Ruler herself had to be especially careful, for her death was the death of the World. Without needing much thought, Jeanne gave her support. "Very well, pursue them. Don't push too far, the last thing we need is you getting surrounded while you're outnumbered."

Kiritsugu quickly made his way to Maya and Illya, stopping in front of them within seconds after responding to Ruler. "I'll see it done."

Mayasviel narrowed her eyes at her Servant questioningly but otherwise without emotion, placing her right hand on her hip with a slight lean to that side. "Are we going to hunt them down?"

Kiritsugu's eyes gave off a glimmer of fury behind the pain he felt at Illya's loss. He had no idea what kind of past she shared with the mindless warrior, but all that mattered to him was that she had almost been physically struck by his death. "Yeah." Kneeling to place a firm hand on his daughter's feeble shoulder, Assassin forced a smile and spoke softly, though his voice was still tinged with anger. "We're going after them, Illya. They will not get away with this. Do you hear me?"

A spark of life returned to Illya's eyes, pleading with her father to uphold that promise, along with another wave of tears that she only just managed to contain. Nodding resolutely while she wiped her eyes, Illyasviel clenched her tiny fists as her father's wrath seemed to flow into her. Even if it was the last thing she did, Illya had every intention of watching Lancer bite his bullet.

Kiritsugu smiled and stood up, only to feel his body lurch and shudder as the accumulated stress of his Innate Time Control hit him all at once. Through grinding teeth, he whispered "Avalon" sparking a burst of energy through his blood, and finally the rest of him as it seemed to spread. While he hadn't been visually damaged, his insides had been shredded halfway to hell- only to be healed within seconds as the tears in tissue, muscle, and bone sealed perfectly.

The empowered sensation remained as Assassin turned around, his eyes seeming to lock on towards the direction Kirei had retreated. It had only been a minute since they fled, but Lancer Alter and his Master couldn't have gotten too far in their wounded states. "Let's go. Keep your eyes on the ground as we move and stick close, they could be hiding somewhere nearby."

With a swift nod, Mayasviel knelt down to allow the sniffling Illya to climb onto her back once more, flapping her glowing wings and blasting off almost vertically to prioritize a good viewpoint. Assassin followed close behind, sprinting forth towards the dry river while watching for any signs of hidden enemies.

#

Meanwhile Caster, the sinister golden-haired Queen serving Avenger, watched on through an oval mirror-like projection that hovered in front of her like a formless television, observing the movements of her allies across the city, and witness to the fall of Berserker. "That's one down..." Unleashing a devilish smirk, the veiled magus began to fly forward only inches off the ground leaving her idly blinking Master behind. The shining golden sword held in the hands of a young Master caught her eyes from one of the seven 'screens' that seemed to orbit around her.

"This Holy Grail War just got a lot more interesting...!"


	4. Chapter 3: Ghosts of Camelot

To start things off, I am sorry for the wait! I wrote an entire chapter that I decided would be better left to include a bit later on- after I already made it to the final editing stages. I also had a cruise that, without changing the chapter order, would have been perfectly timed... Instead, I took that break mid-chapter- but here it is!

Furthermore, I've decided to begin working on a new story along with this (slowly for now) that will start explaining the gap from the end of Fate Stay/Night to present in rigorous detail. The name of this prequel will be Fate Lost Origin, and not only will it have a lengthy summary of the Fifth Holy Grail War itself, it will explore the origin of Toshimi and the 'Main Story' I have in mind for the series and ultimately lead into the next installment after the Seventh Holy Grail War ends.

* * *

In the suburbs of southern Miyama, Emiya Shirou and his Amazonian Servant lay in wait among the lifeless residences and ruined private farms. Archer and her Master stood side-by-side on the roof of the tallest building in the southern region, a two-story barn that practically screamed for attention. It had a good view of the neighboring homes and open fields beyond but was also a beacon for enemies the moment it came into view. Whether they found the enemy or the enemy found them, battle would be unavoidable.

"Trace on." Appearing with a soft glow of magical energy, a slender black longbow formed in Shirou's left hand, which sported a thick guard for the hands in front. He turned his wrist back and forth to observe his craftsmanship before letting it rest at his side.

Archer examined the structure of the bow in her Master's hand, whistling softly in admiration. "That's a fine bow you have, Master. You could be an Archer with that thing!"

Almost laughing at the irony Shirou couldn't help but give his Servant a wry smirk. "You have no idea. But I am neither an archer nor a swordsman... I'm barely even a magus."

Smiling idly as she scanned the ground and sky, Archer gave a final reply before catching sight of a strange shadow approaching from a great distance at incredible speed. "Don't sell yourself short, Master. You have the potential to surpass any legend. Whatever it is you are, you are strong." As the shadow skirted along the ground, it's true size and form became frighteningly clear with the realization that the shadow had been cast from above, and she suddenly manifested her unexpectedly simple wooden bow and drew back an arrow with her eyes narrowed into a glare on the sky. "Above us, Master!" The drawn arrow was released at the source of her unease, crossing the distance between them almost instantly.

Shirou elevated his gaze and his eyes shook with a primal fear that even he could not initially shake. An emerald-scaled dragon with four massive limbs and beating its wide leathery wings shined in the darkness above Fuyuki as the dim lights of the Moon reflected off its scales. It roared deafeningly at the speeding projectile and engulfed it in dragon fire, seeming to burn up amidst the flames. With a click of her tongue Archer drew three arrows at the same time, crouching and holding her bow horizontally.

Her Master took only a moment to accept the situation and uttered his spell once again, forming a black sword with four spaced slits down the center starting at the base of the blade in his right hand. As soon as it appeared he drew the sword back on the string of his bow as it glowed and transformed into a slender arrow of the same color, covered in strange spiraling blade-like protrusions.

"Hrunting: Hound of the Red Plains!"

Archer glanced to the side with wide eyes tinged with envy before gluing them back upon the mythical nightmare. As an Archer Servant, she could not let herself be outdone by her Master in the same field, even if he was shooting off Noble Phantasms as arrows. Both Master and Servant released their arrows simultaneously at the Phantasmal Beast, Archer with her aim on the dragon's head and each wing, while Shirou's projection of Hrunting radiated red light as it seemed to howl through the air towards its broad scaled chest.

The mighty beast roared once again and spat out another jet of dragon fire as it spread its wings and dove, passing below all of Archer's arrows. Only Shirou's Hrunting seemed to pass through the flames unhindered though still missed its initial target, until the shining guided arrow came back around for another strike and pierced it's scales with ease between the great beast's wings and came out the other side of its chest, all while the dragon continued its ferocious blazing approach unfazed.

"An illusion...?"

Archer breathed a sigh of momentarily relief, and when the encroaching emerald dragon let loose another wave of flames that would finally reach, she felt nothing as the flames washed over her and everything around them to no effect. She remained on guard amidst the blinding fog of flames, while Shirou's heart dropped as an instinct he could not explain compelled him to jump from the roof of the barn. "Archer, get back!"

Turning her head to find her Master jump away with reinforced legs when the thought to do the same had only just crossed her mind, the amazon followed suit faster and farther than he did and caught him just before the barn they'd been standing on seemed to explode at the end of the roaring stream of dragon fire. Archer landed and Shirou stood on his own as his expression hardened, preparing himself for the battle ahead.

"Aw crap, they dodged it!"

Snapping to attention, Shirou and Archer found a silver knight in full crimson-engraved plate armor and a horned helm walking through the smoking rubble unarmed, yet no scent of burning wood filled the air. Shirou also felt a vague recognition of the knight, but no matter how hard he tried he could not definitively recall.

Directly behind the knight stood an old mage with robes so worn it was hard to imagine what they'd been through. The damage had not been inflicted by any means of 'force', but as a result of 'time'. The sage looked over the unarmed Shirou beside Archer and smiled. "We have arrived at a fitting stage, Saber. Wreak havoc as you please."

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

Releasing a burst of red mana from their feet, the knight exploded towards Archer and closed the gap with speed that shook the air around them. Swinging a silver and crimson bastard sword with their right hand like a toothpick out of thin air, Saber had Archer dead to rights. And then, Archer ducked under the blade and the arms driving it, ramming her knee into the knight's chest plate as she pushed her body forward.

Archer's blow sent Saber back the way they came at almost twice the speed, crashing into the ground with an explosion of earth and dust. As the sound of clanking armor emerged from the cloud of raised dirt they saw Saber step forth without a scratch, rolling their shoulders with a crack. "Good moves for an Archer..." Smirking beneath their armor Saber rushed forward once again, but less wild and more calculating. Archer drew back an arrow and released it, while Saber smacked it aside with ease before they plunged their left heel into the ground as they poised their silver and red sword for a thrust, skidding from the speed and force and ready to put all their momentum into the sword.

The Amazon faced the knight with focused eyes that could follow even Saber's beast-like speed. Clicking her tongue, Archer tossed aside her bow as it faded into particles of light and raised her fists, bracing herself for close combat. Amazons were known for their versatility in combat, well versed in sword, spear, and bow among many other arts of war. Hand to hand brawls were no exception, and it was just as aggressive and unrelenting a style as the warrior women themselves. Rather than wait for Saber to get close, Archer closed the gap herself. "I'm no mere Archer!"

However, as Archer stepped aside from where Saber had aimed their thrust, the knight brought their right foot to the ground, pushing off to the side using their left foot to pivot the opposite direction than Archer's side step, using the former thrusting position to transition into a full-swing horizontal slash utilizing both hands. Archer's eyes widened as she fell for Saber's bait, rushing to step further back and bend her body out of the way. The blade's tip missed by a millimeter as it cut through mere cloth, and within the next moment, Saber was in pursuit.

Saber's elderly Master had yet to make a move, seemingly content to observe. As he watched the knight take the advantage, he smiled faintly as if it was the expected result. Shirou had kept an eye on him while trying to find a chance to shoot at Saber, but the speed and unpredictability of their movements were simply too much for Shirou to follow. He found himself grating his teeth, and the image of two curved short swords surfaced in Shirou's mind as his bow faded into particles of magical energy.

"Trace On!"

Raising both hands in front of his body, Shirou focused and began the process of tracing his signature weapons. The weapons he sought appeared in his hands first as a 'blueprint' of magical energy that was quickly filled in with each of the seven steps to his unique Tracing process while glowing with magical light. Each was a curved short sword with a central yin-yang symbol on each side of the blade where it met the hilt. Both swords were identical in shape except for the color- Kanshou in his left hand was black with a red hexagonal pattern across the entire blade, while Bakuya in his right hand was pure white.

Saber's Master blinked a few times and stared at Shirou's glowing hands and swords, and a confused frown spread across his wrinkled face as he looked deep into his memories. "Projection Magic...? Why do I feel like I remember something like that... Ah!" His confused expression flipped immediately into a mischievous grin, but he failed to elaborate on whatever realization he came to.

While Saber thrust her sword for real and narrowly missed her target as Archer deftly avoided the blade and jumped onto the rooftop behind her, their carefree Master stamped his staff upon the earth and began to chant.

"Earth be thine foundation, the will of nature set in stone."

In front of the magus, the ground shook and shattered, and within moments the debris gathered into 5 distinct 'humanoid' golems of dry dirt and stone leaving a wide but shallow crater where they stood. Hearing the rumble of the earth, Shirou turned away from the battling Servants to face the powerful Master as the golems of stone rose up from the crater they formed to stand at a height of roughly 5 feet and rushed forward to close the distance. As he approached, Shirou began the reinforcement chant of his weapons. As part of his training under Rin following the war, Shirou discovered that he could reinforce his projections to become stronger the more affinity with the weapon he had.

"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm."

The stone golems stepped forward slowly while their Master pointed his spiral staff at them from behind, chanting further into his mantra as well. As he spoke, Shirou clashed with his first golem as it brought it's right arm of stone down from above, crippling the golem with a shattering blow to the elbow from Bakuya.

"Let the strength of Earth flow like blood through thine veins-"

When Shirou followed up with Kanshou and thrust at the golem's chest, the earthen soldier and those behind it took on a green, glossy 'film' of skin around the earth that seemed to strengthen its endurance as the loose dirt solidified and increased in densitiy. Kanshou merely bounced off the surface with a spark. Shirou's eyes went wide as he jumped back, taking a blow from the golem as it jabbed its fist outwards. The punch lacked speed and was blocked by Bakuya at his side with neither giving ground from the ringing impact as Shirou regained his footing.

Saber's Master whispered a new spell with no apparent effects into the wind.

" _-Blood and Spirit of Nature._ "

"Our strength rips the mountains, our swords split the water."

Shirou lunged forward after shifting his sword to an angle and diverting the strength of the golem's stone fist aside, taking a strong step forward and striking the Golem's waist at the thinnest point with both swords from under its arm. The strength of both swords proved a better match than one alone, cracking the stone yet not fully breaking it. "So tough..."

The other golems made their way from behind the other to surround Shirou, but he jumped back before they closed off the space behind him, keeping his eyes on each of them with care. He could also hear the dull metallic thud of Saber being knocked away from Archer as she grabbed the silver and red sword over Saber's own hand from below the hilt to stop their blade as it arced toward her, and then swiftly delivered a full-strength punch to Saber's face over her horned helmet. "Eat this!"

As Archer's punch reached Saber, so too did Saber's reach her. They traded blows and sent the other flying backwards. Saber broke the trunk of an old oak tree in half while Archer crashed through the walls of a nearby house and out the other side. Shirou kept chanting his spell as the Servants clashed and braced himself for the next round with the golems.

"Our names reach the imperial villa."

Shirou lashed out his arm as the golems attacked, parrying the strike of one before ducking barely under the next. As a third raised both arms above its stone head for a powerful hammering blow, Shirou saw cracks spreading across it's midsection from the blow he dealt previously. Stepping towards it with a shout, he struck with both Kanshou and Bakuya in a crossing slash from each side, severing the golem in two as its raised arms collapsed aside.

Saber's Master chanted another strange verse in the background.

" _Mind and Body of Man._ "

However, one of the golems had maneuvered behind him while he stood his ground and wrapped its stone arms around Shirou's shoulders and held him in place along with his arms and swords. Feeling crushed within the pressure of its grasp while his bones seemed to creak, Shirou shouted the last of his spell through grit teeth and a pained expression as the crippled golem thrust its remaining arm towards his face.

"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together!"

Kanshou and Bakuya glowed softly in his hands, and grew twice as large as they were before, each the size of a longsword. Their color remained while crystalline spikes grew along the back of each weapon concentrated above the hilt, overcoming the yin-yang symbols. The spiked protrusions seemed to become one with the blade further up its length, spreading along the surface like branches.

As the swords grew from their original state, they broke through the arms that had wrapped around their wielder allowing Shirou to jump quickly into the air. Rotating his body midair, Shirou roared and brought the reinforced Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge upwards through the crippled golem in front of him with parallel vertical strokes. It shattered under their might and Shirou continued spinning through the air to strike the armless golem that had grabbed him with a crossed slash through its chest as he fell back to earth. He turned around to destroy each of the remaining three golems the moment he landed with a single horizontal slash from both weapons at the same time, glaring daggers at their Master while taking ragged breaths.

Saber's Master watched with almost exaggerated expressions of awe as Shirou cut down his golems. "Well done, young magus. But I'm afraid you have much to learn. _Imadg_ _-_ "

The old mage stumbled over his words mid-incantation, creating an awkward pause that Shirou couldn't help but cringe at. He continued within moments as if it never happened, however his 'whispers on the wind' became louder with each verse and the air quivered under the words of power.

 _"Imagination is the key to every door. Reality bends to my every whim!"_

A torrent of wind rose around the chanting magus as he finished his spell, swirling around him as a mystical vortex formed and then suddenly expanded in a final burst.

" _Radial Overlay._ "

As the words were spoken, the air seemed to 'flow' like water as the torrential winds faded away, the shockwave almost visible as the air distorted all around them, and then the earth itself violently shook under the force of his words. Shirou was so focused on the mystical power of the spell that he failed to notice the stone fragments of the fallen golems gathering at his feet- He suddenly found himself pinned by the conglomeration of jagged stone that now held his legs below the knee in place like one giant hand of earth.

Shirou tried to pull his legs free to no result, and the opposing Master had rushed forward himself holding his staff as if it were a sword, swiping at Shirou with speed and precision, delivering a flurry of strikes as he struggled to hold off the surprisingly powerful attacks and was forced to bend backwards under their weight. After the first strike, the staff had begun to fade as if becoming invisible only for its true form to be released from the illusion.

It was a simple steel sword with no ornaments or engravings, and Shirou's Reality Marble couldn't even get a read on it. As long as he couldn't move, Shirou would be worn down no matter what the sword was made of. In order to free up his feet, Shirou called down a sword from within his Reality Marble to strike the earth from above.

"Trace On!"

The slim sword he projected shattered the earth binding his feet, and Shirou dove aside just in time to avoid the longsword wielded by the tricky old magus as it passed over his head. Standing immediately and turning to face his opponent, Shirou clashed with the magus and cast aside his longsword with Bakuya while delivering an upward slash across the torso of his worn grey robe and into his chest- or so Shirou thought. The form of the old mage disappeared the moment it was cut as if it was never there. The sage figure's parting words carried on the wind after they were spoken. "You have courage and determination... But that will not help you against my illusions."

Looking around in confusion, Shirou could find neither Archer nor Saber and their Master. For several seconds after the mage vanished, there was only eerie silence. Goosebumps spread across his skin as his spine shivered, and Shirou spun around to his back and found 'shadows' of knights, clad in armor and held sword and shield in hand. There were twenty-four shadow knights each with their own cloaked sets of unique armor and weapons, but one among them stood out to Shirou at first glance.

A tall knight with full shadowed armor plate adorned with crosses hanging from the back of his armor on long strips of fabric. His armor was further decorated with rounded protruding rims on his pointed pauldrons that helped guard his neck, and sharp guards atop the knees and ankles of his greaves. What Shirou recognized the most about this man was his dark Holy Sword that held a strong resemblance in shape to Excalibur, and a helmet that had a tail of horsehair that flowed for several feet so as to nearly touch the ground.

"Lancelot...!"

Shirou had seen this man in dreams of Artoria's memories during the Fifth Holy Grail War, and he realized that he also vaguely recognized several of the knights behind him. Every single one of them radiated an aura of strength beyond that of a human, yet not as powerful as a Heroic Spirit. Shirou gulped down the saliva that accumulated from the sudden nerve-shattering realization that he stood before the Knights of the Round Table themselves- or at least illusions of them. The illusion of Lancelot stepped forward and raised his Holy Sword Aroundight, and the other illusionary knights stepped back as if to allow Shirou the right to challenge the strongest knight of the Round Table.

Taking a deep breath, Shirou held Kansho and Bakuya Overedge up at each side and narrowed his eyes at the famous knight. He knew that Lancelot and the other knights were an illusion, yet there was an unshakable feeling of unease in the pit of Shirou's stomach that seemed to tell him otherwise. Even if they weren't real, his body still recognized an undetectable danger- but he refused to let fear take him and lunged towards Lancelot with a battle cry.

The illusion moved to intercept him, and Aroundight's ghost arced towards Shirou from above. Kanshou came around to meet it head on, as Shirou decided to test just how the strange old magus would attack him through the illusion. However, as Kanshou and Aroundight repelled each other, an invisible blade continued the path of Lancelot's Holy Sword beyond Kanshou to rend cloth and flesh, sending a spray of blood from the long diagonal gash left upon his chest. It was a shallow strike however, looking much worse than it actually was.

Merely wincing from the pain and retreating a step, Shirou struck out with the spiked white longsword Bakuya and drove Lancelot's illusion back as it leapt backwards to avoid the blow. "This could be bad..." Shirou had little experience dealing with illusion magecraft, but he could tell that at least his wound was real.

#

Outside the illusion bewitching Shirou, Archer and Saber traded blows as the Amazon stood her ground and caught the knight's sword between her palms when it came down above her head. While at first losing ground to the sword with straining muscles and shaking arms, Archer caught sight of the flash of Shirou's magic in the corner of her eye as he cut through a group of glowing earthen golems.

"As long as my Master is fighting so hard... I cannot lose!"

Archer threw the sword upwards and tackled Saber to the ground and drove her knees into the knight's shoulders as they landed to pin their arms. Roaring fiercely, the amazon let fly a hail of fists upon Saber's helmet, denting it to hell but not a single crack appeared. Regardless of the strength of the armor, Archer's blows delivered enough damage for stray drops of blood to shoot from the slit eye holes of the helm with each of Archer's half a dozen blows.

The knight could only barely be heard groaning from each punch over the ringing thud of their armor being plowed, until they let loose a war cry and rammed one of the horns of their helmet into Archer's gut. The sudden attack impaled her upon the curved horn for only a moment before the force of the crude strike was amplified by a burst of crimson lightning that sent Archer flying parallel to the ground like a speeding bullet before crashing and rolling along for several meters. She forcefully stopped herself by digging her bare hand into the earth and planting both feet into the ground- her other hand clutched the wound in her right side as blood began to leak between her fingers.

"...Master!?"

As she stood, Archer watched in confusion as her formerly victorious Master was striking air and blocking invisible attacks before he fired off a projected sword between his own feet at nothing and rolled forward as if to dodge. As soon as he stood, he turned and swiftly delivered what seemed to be a fatal blow to his invisible opponent.

"Where do you think you're looking!?"

Archer was forced to refocus her attention as Saber blasted forth surrounded by crimson energy that shattered the ground where they previously stood. Taking a deep breath, the Amazonian warrior called upon one of her most trusted Noble Phantasms, carried in every Servant Class available to her. No matter what, saving her Master was Archer's priority.

"Goddess of War: Exalted Banner of the War God!"

An aura of powerful magical energy surged from within Hippolyta's crimson arm-tied sash, flowing through every cell in her body. Her muscles became more defined and she took a low stance that initially seemed relaxed and open, yet Saber's experience let them see that Archer resembled a prowling lion on two feet, even going as far as to bare the whites of her teeth in a snarl.

With an audible smack Saber's silver sword was parried by the palm of Ares' daughter as it came in diagonally from above. At the same time, Archer also caught Saber's wrist and pulled them down using their own strength against them. Saber struggled to free their hand to no avail and felt their body being thrown as their feet left the ground and they were flipped into the dirt on their back. Saber barely had time to hit the ground before being sent flying through the air from a ringing kick to the left side that sent the knight skipping across the ground like a stone on water.

Still dizzy from the swift counterattack, Saber reoriented their body after the third earth-cracking bounce and landed with a skid across the dirt, sword in hand. The knight growled beneath their armor, and red sparks of magical energy began to arc across the blade of Saber's sword and exploded through the surrounding air.

"Playtime is...! - Huh!?"

Archer no longer stood where she was before, making for the 'bubble' of magical energy around her Master the moment Saber had gone flying.

#

Lancelot howled and rushed Shirou head on, his illusionary Holy Sword taking a wide horizontal arc as Shirou took a short leap backwards. The strike was too fast to escape however, and he barely diverted Aroundight over his head with Bakuya.

As Shirou expected, pain assaulted his shoulder with an accompanying shallow gash across his right arm. Unlike the first time however, the location of the wound was not in accordance with the movements of the illusions. Still, enough damage had been done. Bakuya Overedge shook in his grasp due to the wound, and he knew then that it was only a matter of time before he fell to the master of illusions if things remained as they were. Of course, Emiya Shirou would never give up as long as he was Emiya Shirou. He dove aside to evade another swift attack from Lancelot, and when he stood Kansho and Bakuya were gone as he glared at the opposing knight.

"Trace on!"

A powerful golden glow erupted from Shirou's hands as he brought them together, confined into the shape of a sword that bisected the illusion of Lancelot seemingly of its own accord. While Shirou had a higher affinity with Kansho and Bakuya than any other weapons, there was one sword that came as a close second and could be considered more powerful in the right hands. The golden light took form as an ornate golden sword with a royal blue hilt and gem and accents further along the base of the blade, leading to an inscription that all but gave away its name.

Soft words were spoken upon the wind by the Master hidden within his illusion as he recognized the sword instantly. _"Whoso_ _pulleth_ _out this sword from this stone is_ _rightwise_ _king of all England."_

Shirou only narrowed his eyes at the Knights of the Round Table, who had all ceased movement. Whether it was because he held Caliburn in his hands or because the ghost of Lancelot had fallen, he could not tell. There was no doubt in Shirou's mind now who he was facing, though. He still could hardly believe it, but there was no other answer. No other man had such a close relationship with the Knights of the Round Table to reproduce them so faithfully or could claim such mastery over illusions.

Only the infamous half-incubus magus Merlin could be summoned as a Master due to still living within his eternal prison, the Garden of Avalon. Merlin's appearance didn't match what Shirou recalled of Saber's memories, but then as a master of illusion magecraft, Shirou knew that he must have been hiding his true form.

Caliburn's golden glow that had begun to fade away resurfaced as Shirou felt his energy flow into the sword, raising it above his head in a traditional Jodan stance- And then felt his body being roughly tackled and pulled along from the left side. He couldn't see whoever grabbed him, but they moved at a speed that made the surroundings blur as they passed to the point that Shirou even began to feel dizzy.

Suddenly amidst his captor's sprint, a 'weight' lifted from Shirou's mind before he was set down by what he could now see was Archer, wounded but fiercely blazing with power and fighting spirit. "Master, are you alright? Can you still fight? If you can, take this!"

It took a moment for him to calm himself down from the sudden release of adrenaline, but his body seemed to freeze up as Archer carefully unwrapped the crimson sash tied around her arm and offered it up to her Master. "But that's-"

"Yes, this is one of my Noble Phantasms. Its name is 'Goddess of War'. I have an idea, but we have other things to worry about first, so just take it!" Shirou blinked and took the God of War's torn banner and held it in his hands unable to take his eyes off it. The fabric was rough and sturdy, no simple decoration that was clearly meant for real wear and tear. Furthermore, a powerful divine energy flooded the banner that Shirou could scarcely imagine flowing through him. With a deep breath, he raised the fabric over his head and wrapped it firmly atop his shoulders like a scarf without calling out it's True Name.

As soon as Shirou and Archer escaped Merlin's Radial Overlay, the bubble of magical energy holding it together began to crumble away to slowly reveal Saber and their Master that had reunited for the beginning of another round of battle. Merlin smiled faintly while Saber's eyes bulged beneath their armor at the Sword of Kings as feelings of anger, hate, and desire arose in their chest. As they watched Archer hand off their Noble Phantasm, Saber could no longer sit still.

"Thank you very much, Archer. I will not let you down. I figured out who Saber's Master is, though. That magus is Merlin- he might as well be another Servant than a regular Master..."

Even Archer couldn't keep from feeling uneasy, hearing that name. "Merlin, seriously!? This could be rough... I'm at a disadvantage against Saber by nature, and you are frankly weak against mind-altering magecraft of which Merlin specializes... But have no fear! That idea I mentioned earlier might just-"

Saber could no longer contain their emotions nor ignore their enemy's scheming, and the plan Merlin had been trying to convey to his Servant went in one ear and out the other as the knight charged in head first in a blind bellowing rage. Saber surrounded themselves in magical energy that created streams of lightning arcing through the air and even striking the earth, burning and tearing it apart in their wake. _"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT SWORD!?"_

Even as the berserk Saber radiated killing intent towards Shirou, he stood firm and stepped to the side of Archer and raised Caliburn to strike with both hands. "Master, wait! At least use-!" A fierce golden glow arose from the blade surrounded by particles of light as Shirou took a firm step toward Saber as their sparking silver sword curved towards his neck.

"Caliburn!"

Red and gold clashed with a sharp ring of steel and their light blended together, exploding under the forces of opposing mana in a pulse of fiery orange light that sent each combatant skidding backwards across the ground. Shirou struggled to remain standing until the last moment before finally falling onto his backside and rolling once. As he caught himself and swiftly pushed himself up, his smile almost seemed to show a hint of excitement. "As expected, Saber is strong..."

Almost laughing at the fall, the knight smirked beneath their battered and bloody helmet. "You are... weak. I'll ask you again. Where did you get that sword?"

Shirou took a deep breath and stood back up holding a defensive stance, narrowing his gaze slightly as he decided to converse with the knight and especially Merlin if he could. "I wouldn't really say it was _given_ to me by anyone, but it is my connection to Artoria Pendragon herself that lets me hold Caliburn."

Chuckling in understanding, Merlin spoke as he calmly caught up behind Saber before the stunned knight could even begin to understand how that statement made them feel. "You saw it within her memories while she was your Servant, didn't you? Even if it is a reproduction that sword suits you well, Emiya Shirou."

Saber and Shirou both let their guards falter just a bit and stared with blank shock at Merlin. Shirou was baffled that Merlin could know anything about what happened at that time... unless he was capable of seeing the future. With a relaxing sigh, Shirou understood with ease. "You saw Artoria's future and death from the very beginning. She was never truly dead as a Servant, so you must have-"

"ENOUGH!" Saber stomped upon the ground with a growl and a flash of scarlet lightning. As the knight spoke, their helmet clicked and an internal mechanism folded the helmet down into the armor to reveal her face while fortifying the rest of her chest plate. "I will hear no more of this shit! Fake or not, you hold the Sword of Kings... No matter what it takes, I will prove once and for all that I have the capacity of a King!"

Shirou hardened his stance before he saw the knight's golden hair in a ponytail and blue eyes, and recognized her at once. Images of the Battle of Camlann flashed through his head centered on the corpse of a crimson and steel-armored knight with a horned helmet. Artoria Pendragon knelt weeping silently above her "child", Mordred, after having fought a battle to the death during her rebellion. With the release of Secret of Pedigree, Shirou finally was able to identify her. "Mordred...! Wait a sec-!"

"No more talk!" Mordred held Clarent with both hands in front of her with a wild grin. Crimson magical energy exploded from the silver sword with the roaring crack of lightning that could be seen for miles around, enveloping the blade in a flamelike aura as the red lightning settled and arced rapidly around the corrupted Holy Sword as Saber raised it high above her head. "If you cannot fend this off, you were never meant to hold that sword!"

"CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"

Shirou knew what was coming from the first flare of magical energy, such an overwhelming pressure could only be felt from the activation of a Noble Phantasm. He raised Caliburn in front of him in a low Chuudan stance unlike earlier, as scores of light orbs radiated from the surface of the golden blade. Shirou focused his mind as Mordred roared out the 'grudge' held against her father.

"Goddess of War!"

As the words were said, the power of Ares flowed through Shirou from his chest and exponentially increased his physical strength and speed while flooding his body with magical power. He closed his eyes and 'looked within' as he felt the magic spread throughout his being. In his mind's eye, Shirou pictured Artoria standing beside him with her hands held firmly above his on the hilt of Caliburn, and he felt his new wealth of magical energy pour into the blade that had begun to swirl with shimmering golden light. _"Go,_ _Shirou_ _\- with all of your strength."_

"CALIBURN!"

Speaking his weapon's name as he opened his eyes with an almost feral glare that reflected the untamed power dominating his body, the Holy Sword in his hands generated a burst of powerful winds infused with golden light that flared and swirled around the Sword of Kings. Archer stared with awe at the shining display, and suddenly she felt like he might have a chance.

Clarent came down as Shirou stepped forward and lunged towards the oncoming wave of magical crimson lightning. A dazzling beam of golden light pierced through the air and clashed with Saber's Noble Phantasm in an earth-shaking explosion of red and gold. The two opposing energies struggled to push the other back in a stalemate, each swordsman gritting their teeth and putting their all into the Noble Phantasms.

"Break through!"

"Like hell you will!"

Mere moments after the initial collision, the energy of Clarent and Caliburn shook violently as they became unstable from sustained opposition. As the magic of each weapon came undone, the last remnants of their power were released simultaneously in a central explosion between each pair of Master and Servant that caused long cracks to spread through the earth underfoot and a sonic blast that overwhelmed the ears of man and hero alike and sent a sharp ring echoing through their minds.

As the chaos settled, each pair came to realize that the other was standing unharmed opposite them. Archer beamed up at Shirou with her eyes locked on his broad shoulders in admiration. He stepped in front of her and took the full power of a Servant head on and met it in a stalemate- only one of those times was with the aid of the Banner of Ares. "Master, that was amazing! "

Though unharmed, Shirou had begun to take slow, deep breaths as he felt the stamina-draining power of unleashing a Noble Phantasm. Caliburn came to rest in the Chuudan stance once again as the last of its light shimmered away. "Yeah. This power is... nothing short of incredible." His eyes lingered on the golden Holy Sword for a moment before turning upward to meet the glare of Mordred half a hundred meters away.

"You..!" Unfazed and infuriated, Saber snarled and grit her teeth and nearly charged forward again before a malicious magical pressure overwhelmed both pairs of Masters and Servants and caused even the Berserker-like Saber to stop after a single step. A powerful energy was assaulted by the 'darkness' and struggled to resist consumption in vain. "Angra Mainyu?"

Shirou snapped his head towards the north where he sensed the curses of Angra Mainyu wash over and corrupt a Servant beyond even the Big Bridge. "It... can't be!" Shirou stared wide-eyed with shock into the distance as he remembered feeling the same evil energy when Archer had been consumed by The Shadow in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Somewhere, a Servant had been taken by Avenger. And yet, a worse thought even still scratched its way into Shirou's head. _If not Avenger, there was only one other existence that could 'blacken' a Servant._

"Are you out there fighting... Sakura...?"


	5. Chapter 4: Light and Shadow

Hello everyone, thank you for everyone who has read and enjoyed the opening of this new adventure. I have two chapters to show for the time I've taken, and some interesting details about the Fifth Holy Grail War and beyond will be revealed in these two chapters to tease certain events that will occur Lost Origin.

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Several miles northwest of where Shirou's fight had begun within the Western Style District, Rin and Caster jumped from rooftop to rooftop while the former was princess carried in the knightly magus's arms. Combat had begun on all fronts across the city while an enemy Servant eluded the scarlet duo behind their front line, using the darkness and buildings as cover. Luckily Caster had caught a glimpse of the shrouded Servant before they could hide, or the Assassin may have been able to get the jump on someone.

"Rin, keep your eyes peeled. Now that we know he's there, Assassin will be extra careful- be especially wary of traps. For an Assassin to be so easily discovered behind enemy lines... The chance is high that this is a lure. Not that it will stop us."

"Roger that."

Rin nodded with a smile and used her somewhat awkward position to watch Caster's back. By now she'd become used to being carried in such a fashion, but when she was initially swept off her feet by Caster, one could have sworn that her cheeks were redder than her robe. Rin also held a ruby and topaz in each hand just in case anything were to happen while they were on the move.

Unlike her jewels from the Fifth Holy Grail War that had nearly run out, Rin now had a new set of sixteen jewels paid for by a 'small investment' directly from Zelretch that was also her gateway to becoming his disciple. These jewels, being 'fresh', did not hold much magical energy yet and thus couldn't produce powerful spells as she did during the last War. However, spells focusing on utility or precision could still be used to a manageable degree. One such spell described in her Magic Crest came to mind, but she would need to create the specific conditions required for its activation or it would be next to useless.

"Let's stop here. We're going to flush him out!"

Briefly startled, Caster smiled and set Rin down on surprisingly sturdy western building made of eroded but still thick stone that was the building least likely to collapse under the power Emiya Shirou could produce. Rin brushed herself off with a faint blush as she took several steps away from Caster and pointed at a row of rotting mini-mansions. "Destroy that area, preferably using something with a powerful shockwave."

Caster blinked a few times in mild surprise. "Are you sure? That will draw a lot of unwanted attention, even if this is in our territory."

Rin frowned slightly at being questioned, but it was a valid concern. "Be that as it may, the next time we see Assassin will most certainly be when he launches his attack, correct? Right now, we still know his general vicinity. This is our only shot at striking Assassin first, and... I haven't quite mastered this spell yet, so it has to be a big one." Rin gave Caster a small 'thumbs up' and grinned slightly. "It'll be fine."

Caster couldn't help but smile in return. "Very well. A powerful shockwave, huh... It must be _that._ " Taking a deep breath, Caster held both hands open at his side and imagined a black bow with a thick hand guard and his arrow of choice. The longbow manifested in his left hand and had the exact same appearance of the bow he used in his youth, simply adjusted to fit his adult frame.

As for the sword he'd chosen for his arrow, Caster projected Naegling, the brother sword to Hrunting belonging to the hero Beowulf. The blackened iron club was only able to be called a sword due to its approximate shape and because the central mass had eight half-swords extending outward. It was a weapon of pure destructive force that would break under its own weight after its continued use, and cause even further damage upon said destruction.

Servant Shirou chose this weapon intending for its explosion to expand outwards instead of being driven into a specific target, as Rin requested. Caster drew the sword back with ease as it shined and transformed into a thin, jagged mass of blades that could be called neither a sword nor an arrow and released almost without having to aim.

"Naegling!"

The arrow resembled a furiously bladed hammer as it hit its relatively close target in an instant. Naegling tore through the descending row of buildings and exploded in the middle of the collapsing street, wiping out what was left of the ruined western residences on the street opposite them, which included the old Makiri's, much to the pair's satisfaction.

Rin began activating her spell the moment the arrow left Caster's hand. She held her closed left fist in front of her with the topaz in hand, focusing her Od on the small collection of magical energy inside the jewel. At the same time, Caster's Broken Phantasm released the shockwave of air that Rin needed.

"Windströmung Lesen!"

As the chant left her lips, the topaz seemed to crumble into glittering dust in her hand. With its activation, Rin held out her palms and focused on the explosion caused by Naegling, as if trying to insert herself into its flow. She could 'feel' the wind glide against the rubble of the blast and further beyond to the barely-standing buildings around them, and while the precision of this 'feeling' became foggy with distance to the epicenter, Rin was alarmed by her discovery.

Several human-sized disturbances in the flow of the wind were revealed to be hiding along the street with them, and even more shapes that were 'possibly' enemies hiding in seemingly random locations. Regardless, the fact that there was more than one opponent and so many in such proximity was more information than she had before. "Caster, there are 8 confirmed enemies hidden along the street around us in spread out locations. At least 15 more suspicious figures are scattered around. They might not all be enemies... But we're dealing with Assassin here. There could also be more enemies that were well-hidden enough to avoid being revealed by the wind altogether."

"Got it. I'm pushing them, Rin. We may very well be walking in to a trap, so stay close and don't fall too far behind! _Sword Barrel Full Open!_ "

Caster jumped from the building and began running directly along the street while preparing to trace his swords as projectiles at any number. Rin dropped her focus on the wind and refocused her magical energy to enhance her movement speed. Barely able to keep from being left in his dust, Rin grit her teeth with strained nerves and checked her surroundings. There was still no sign of Assassin or his partners, but Rin couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. The air suddenly felt cold, almost 'frozen' as Caster hesitantly stopped his charge despite knowing that it would leave them seriously open, leading Rin to do the same.

The few seconds before the storm were calm and stressfully silent, leaving Caster and Rin back to back with battle-hardened focus in the middle of the street. Rin broke the silence with an almost predatory smile. "Try not to take all the glory, Caster _._ " Stifling a laugh with a smirk, Caster muttered his spell and equipped himself with Kanshou and Bakuya. "Don't worry, Rin. I'll make sure to leave a few for you." Rin merely shook her head without breaking focus, and suddenly a hundred-man army of shrouded figures jumped out of hiding to instantly surround Caster and Rin while each running circles around them while some almost seemed to be flying above them by simply having incredible jumping power.

The sheer number of enemies was beyond anything Rin could have imagined. At the sight of them, her face went white and her eyes shot open in shock. For a moment she felt the cold grip of fear around her heart, but her mental training and simple willpower held her mind together under the overwhelming sense of 'death' hanging in the air. They were at a clear disadvantage against so many opponents fighting against them in the dark. But if it was just some light, Rin could manage something. The instant she needed to prepare the jewel in her hand was taken as a cue for the Assassins to begin their attack.

Caster hardly seemed to flinch at the killing intent emanating from each Assassin, his focus only sharpening in anticipation of the next moment.

Almost every single one of the hundred Assassins launched a simultaneous omnidirectional assault. A moment before, Rin had thrown a ruby straight above and activated it as the catalyst for her magecraft.

"Blitz Feuer!"

Caster spotted 116 thrown weapons in the brief orange flare that illuminated the night- varying from daggers to needles, even small axes and javelins.

"Trace On!"

Each one instantly formed a blueprint in his mind as he spun around with Rin at his back, and a replica of each airborne weapon shot forth from over Caster's head on a collision course with the originals. By activating the full-power external materialization of his Reality Marble preemptively, Caster was able to dedicate himself solely to identifying the weapons swiftly approaching, which would be reproduced and released by the Sword Barrel with virtually no time-lag. Clashing metal rang like machine-gun fire through the air until the last projectile fell to the ground and left them in cold silence once more.

Only a moment after the activation of his defense system, Caster also projected additional duplicates on different courses back at a handful of the Assassins that looked the most open. Half a dozen muffled screams and shouts let him know that he'd hit some of his targets before they escaped, all but one fading away in a glimmer of ether.

"Shirou, how are your magical energy reserves after all that?"

"No problem. I could produce those low-quality weapons in my sleep. More importantly, did you see?"

Rin narrowed her eyes into the distance briefly before looking back among her surroundings. "Yeah. Those Assassins each split off into different groups... And some went back into hiding here. This has gotten troublesome to say the least."

"However, the number that stayed here didn't have much more or less than the other groups except for one group of around twenty. If we assume each group left to target a Master and Servant, accounting for our knowledge that the deliberately larger group didn't stay here..."

With wide eyes Rin pieced together what Caster was saying. "...Then there must also be another enemy Servant close to us!"

Now Caster and Rin understood what had been so off about the situation, that this other Servant had been hiding with Assassin from the very beginning. However, their realization came too late. An invisible 'weapon' cut silently through the air behind Rin and Caster.

Emiya Shirou's pure instinct, as it had many times in his past, took over and acted before even he was fully aware of what was happening. "Rin!" He reached out his left hand to push Rin aside brusquely with his forearm, still holding Kanshou and Bakuya in defense.

Rin fell just out of the path of the 'weapon', and immediately Caster felt a 'spike' of metal pierce his forearm and rip off a large chunk of flesh from the sheer power behind it's throw. It was a familiar feeling that he had clearly experienced once before, filling his forearm with sharp burning pain as the nail glanced off his bone. Almost before his blood hit the ground, Caster tosses aside Bakuya and ripped the metallic nail from his arm releasing a brief spray of blood from the hole left in its place. Sure enough, he could hear the faint shifting of chain as he heard the 'thunk' of the blood-soaked invisible nail hitting the earth and slide back to its master.

Caster muttered with a hint of dread in his voice, glaring into the darkness. "No..."

Rin had quickly recovered her balance without falling, and a black dagger flew past and sunk into the place she would have fallen had she not been as physically trained as she was. She took a sigh of relief when no further attack came and looked up at the Servant that had begun to walk up from the shadows. She had long purple hair and wore a short-cut black dress accented with what was formerly purple trim, now pitch black and nearly indistinguishable from the rest. Her skin had grown much paler than the last time Rin had seen her, and the blindfold that sealed her Noble Phantasm had been stained black and covered in red 'veins'. "Rider...!"

Caster could only stare at Rider and grit his teeth, anger slowly rising within his chest to overcome his dread. Despite his ascending wrath, he seemed to be pleading with himself that his conclusion was false. "Please, don't let me be right..." Taking a deep breath, Shirou shifted from what Rin saw plainly upon his face as fear-driven anger to fierce determination. "Rin. No matter what happens, don't let down your guard. _No matter what!"_

Even without saying it, Rin understood what the adult Shirou was thinking. Before her tears could form, Rin slammed her eyes shut and cut herself off from her emotions. The next moment they were open, and her hands reached into her pockets for an assortment of jewels. "Don't worry, Shirou. I won't die until I send _that bastard_ straight to hell."

Smirking psychotically, the blackened Rider lashed out and ran towards Caster head on. "Now this brings back memories... doesn't it, Archer!?" She stopped while a few steps outside of Caster's swords' attack range and swiftly loosed the nail in her left hand and began sprinting in a broad circle around him.

The adult Shirou let her assume his true identity and struck the nail aside with Kanshou before it could bury itself in his ribs, and Rider pulled the chain from a circular handle to return it to her grasp with ease. Rider had already prepared to throw the next in a relentless attack while taking a soaring stride that set up the next in her chain of attacks.

As the second spike homed in on Caster's kidney and he turned to keep Rider in front of him as she leapt into the air, Rin stuck close at his back while the Assassins also began their attack. She had already prepared herself for their arrival however and figured out a spell within her Magic Crest that would better illuminate the battlefield. Taking both a ruby and topaz from her dwindling research fund, Rin tossed them into the sky with time to spare.

"Gnade die Dunkelheit mit Licht, Sternentanz!"

Activated at the peak of their ascent, the jewels' red and yellow-tinted lights blended together into a shining flash of silver that spread out over the surrounding area of the Western District like tiny stars of magical energy that floated almost infinitesimally down to earth. The Assassins had already left their hiding spot and were illuminated by the magical light as they continued their botched surprise attack without hesitation.

Rider too pressed her attack, even as the second thrown spike was deflected. With some deft handling of the chains connected to her spikes, she managed to twirl the chain of the spike thrown a moment before, pulling it off course from Kanshou to strike the ground, embedding itself firmly into the earth. Rider used her nails to pull herself down from the air straight towards the ground, only three meters away from Caster.

"Caster!"

"-Schlaf, gefroren in der Einsamkeit."

Rin trusted in Caster behind her and dropped to one knee, calling for his aid while she held a large sapphire that was one of her remaining jewels from the Fifth Holy Grail War and one of her new topaz straight out towards the encroaching three Assassins, before suddenly diving to the side and taking aim at Rider Alter as she descended from above. She focused her magical energy once again with a sharp breath and aimed for precision above all else.

"Luftstoß-Eiskäfig!"

From the shattered topaz in Rin's hands, a fierce burst of icy wind surrounded the glowing sapphire beside it and propelled it forward like a bullet of active condensed magical energy. Rider had barely touched earth before she flexed her limbs to free her daggers and prepared to leap on all fours at Caster's momentarily exposed back, and then she was hit square in the chest by the soaring jewel. It exploded instantly in a shockwave of cold air, binding Rider in a thick casing of ice.

As a frosty wind kicked up around Rin, Bakuya swung above her former position and struck aside two daggers, and another bombardment of swords was thunderously released from Caster's Sword Barrel. The first wave deflected their attacks and the second went on farther to kill one more Assassin while the other two took hideous wounds before fleeing back to what shadows remained.

Caster turned to face Rider as she landed, Kanshou shaking in his left hand from the pain of his wounded arm, only to find that Rider had been frozen in place moments before pouncing on his exposed back. Rin looked like her nerves were spent and smiled up in relief at Caster who returned the gesture without taking his eyes from Rider. Just as he thought to himself that she couldn't be held like that for long, the ice binding her body began to crack.

With glaring focus, Caster sprinted toward Rider with his twin short swords held at each side in an attempt to finish her off while she was bound. He fired off another round of six swords that included weapons copied from the Gate of Babylon to increase his chances, each of the various swords qualifying as B Rank.

The ice crack spread further until it began to branch out across Rider's frozen arm, seemingly aware of what was happening beyond her prison. The ice shattered in an instant chain reaction starting from the arm that broke free on brute strength alone, and the rest fractured as Rider flexed both her muscles and magical energy to shed the ice from her body.

Diving aside immediately and breaking out into a sprint straight at Caster, Rider brandished both of her chained nails and struck aside two Noble Phantasms that were closest to striking her while fluidly evading the rest. After the last sword flew past her head, Caster and Rider met in a ringing clash between their dual-wielded weapons, which continued for three consecutive blows before Caster was pushed back by her raw power. With a wounded hand, he could not completely deflect Rider's powerful attacks.

"Before... Did she say _Caster!?"_

"This certainly brings back some old memories, Rider. Only this time, ' _our'_ roles have been reversed..."

With a sly grin hinting at a double meaning unknown even to Rider who had fought Archer Alter in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Caster put all of his focus on delivering a surefire strike to Rider Alter after they briefly separated.

"But this time, _'I'_ will not lose!"

Pushing off the ground before the words had left his mouth, Caster threw both Kanshou and Bakuya to the side, which both arced around in a semi-circle mirroring the other that would bring them behind the closely situated Rider. Projecting another pair of the Chinese swords, Caster also rushed in towards Rider Alter, bringing the blackened Servant to a halt to prepare for his sudden offensive.

"Trace On!"

As soon as Rider braced herself for both the incoming attack from behind and from Caster directly in front of her, four swords appeared from behind who she still assumed was Archer. They were not overly decorated but seemed to be thin knightly swords never associated with a legend. At first their target seemed clear, to skewer Rider or at least force her attention to be diverted from the other attacks.

Knowing the pair of thrown swords approaching from behind would take a few more seconds to arrive, she raised her 'daggers' to strike aside what was more than just a distraction. Only when the swords were feet in front of Rider was she able to tell that they had been fired at slightly different angles, each on course to impact another before actually reaching her. This impact occurred before Rider could even process what had happened, and the bottommost swords were driven down into the ground behind Rider like 'nails' of their own while the other two passed far above her in wild arcs.

Rider need not ask what was being hammered down as she gasped in surprise. Her arms were ripped backwards as she tried to raise them, and she instinctually released the daggers in her grip but with the chains still wrapped around her arms, she was pulled aground crashing to her knees with her arms bound behind her. The target of Caster's projected swords was the circular metal grip at the end of the chains wrapped around each arm that allowed Rider many ways to manipulate the chains for attacks that didn't utilize the 'nail' at all, such as using the chains to bind foes. Caster used this exact moment to deliver the finale of his cleverly coordinated assault. Crouching low with the tips of Kanshou and Bakuya nearly touching the earth to draw the other pair, Caster timed the beginning of a slashing dual uppercut to her shoulders with the arrival of his thrown swords at each calf of Rider.

Being pinned down for only a moment was enough to keep her in place as her legs were slashed from behind, releasing a wide spray of blood. Her legs buckled as all of their strength was lost, and in the next moment Caster's held Kanshou and Bakuya cut almost surgically into each of her bare shoulders, and her arms went limp as well. Rider gasped for breath as she fell backward, facing the starlit sky with a torn body and clothes covered in blood. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Rider was at the mercy of her enemy.

And then, darkness instantly spread across the district in one fell swoop. Rin's light-producing magecraft disappeared from the sky as a dark, cold magical energy began to radiate through the air. The familiarity sent shivers down Caster's spine as well as Rin's, and they knew their earlier fear had come true.

"Rin, we're falling back. This location is far too disadvantageous."

"Alright. Do you have any ideas to reverse that?"

Caster knew an attack was coming even before it was launched, and he quickly released his projections and grabbed Rin, pulling her out of the way of half a dozen blood-red trimmed black tendrils of what appeared to be cloth and jumping away into the air. Caster took Rin up onto the rooftops where at least a haze of light reached from the lonely moon, relying solely on his Sword Barrel to repel The Shadow's cursed Mystic Code as another few tendrils struck out from the shadows to pierce them.

A dozen projected Noble Phantasms shot off in waves as Caster felt his magical energy beginning to dwindle, holding off The Shadow's harrowing silent assault while Caster kept a look out for any remaining Assassins. He still had more than enough magical energy to spare, but with the appearance of The Shadow a decent chunk of it needed to be withheld for the final blow. "The plaza up ahead is wide open. If we can reach it, we may well have a chance to take on _'The Shadow'_. I only know of one way to defeat her without the Jeweled Sword... and it's still a long shot."

Rin narrowed her gaze up at Caster from her princess carry, only to find that the gentle expression that set him apart from Archer the most had been replaced with grim determination that she could swear looked _worse_ than his counterpart. Gathering the resolve to kill someone he cared about for the second time was almost harsher than the first. The same was as true for Rin since Sakura was her younger sister, but they both knew that it had to be done.

"It'll work. It has to..."

The Shadow pursued the pair relentlessly while Rider Alter began to retreat in Spirit Form, leaving what could only be a handful of Assassins hiding in the shadows on their tail. In the absence of Rin's spell, the darkness spread and gave them ample cover to maneuver around the area. After half a minute of narrow evasion and targeted barrages of swords, Caster successfully reached his destination. It was a small parking lot in an open plaza with what was presumably a convenience store and a few western-style shops, fit only to hold maybe two hundred people tightly packed. Still it was more space than anything around for miles, with minimal cover from Caster's attacks. Of course, the same was true in reverse.

When The Shadow arrived at the entrance to the plaza, Caster and Rin stood right in the middle as they prepared to stand their ground side-by-side. Dark Sakura finally revealed her face as the Mystic Code draped around her spread its cloth tendrils wide, over a dozen flailing about as her evil magical energy spiked and began to fill with a fierce strength that came from pure unfiltered wrath.

" _ARCHER_...! I WILL- NEVER- FORGIVE! DEFINTELY... _KILL_!"

Her fierce yell sent shivers down Caster's spine as he felt her dangerously wild energy growing even still. He thought back to the reason she felt such resentment for him, or at least for Archer.

It was the third night of the Fifth War, and Shirou had committed himself with Saber and Archer to an attack on the Ryuudou temple against Caster while Rin got to work on Shirou's training schedule and acquiring everything they would need. After personally cornering Caster, Archer turned around and tipped her off to a near fatal attack before it landed. He then tried to kill Shirou, leaving a long gash through his chest while knocking him to the edge of the Ryuudou Temple's towering staircase where Saber and Assassin still fought. A Matou familiar witnessed this event from the darkness and relayed it to Sakura, and from that day forth she would curse the crimson Archer that hurt the man she loved. When she finally descended into 'darkness' and transformed into the Shadow, that curse was never far from her mind.

Dark Sakura lashed out with her Mystic Code, and each whirling tendril was struck down by a targeted rain of swords as Caster shook himself loose from his memories and focused on the chant that would save them. He knew which of his weapons wouldn't work from past experience, and so skipped straight to his only option- a weapon he had spent more than half his life devising for a completely different purpose. Caster glared at The Shadow with blazing eyes full of hatred, wrath, and a powerful love that gnawed away at his soul from the pit where he had cast it long ago.

"Trace On." His tone carried a hint of venomous rancor for the entity known as Angra Mainyu as Kanshou and Bakuya filled his empty hands once again. He didn't budge an inch from where he stood and continued straight into his chant in a momentary deadlock with The Shadow.

"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm."

The Shadow growled with furious impatience and reached out with her tendrils again to strike at Caster, this time even sneaking some through the ground by piercing through with brute force. Once more her attack was repelled and Caster jumped back to avoid the tendrils that broke through the ground under his feet, slashing them aside with Kanshou and Bakuya. Rin stood a healthy distance behind Caster while sticking close as soon as The Shadow began its attack, keeping a lookout for any trace of the few remaining Assassins and preparing to hold off any interference they may pursue to the best of her ability.

"Our strength rips the mountains,"

Instead of sending another wave of corrupting tendrils, Dark Sakura began to gather her shadows into a single mass that only seemed to grow with every word Caster spoke. As if to fill the void, four Assassins jumped out from hiding and threw an assortment of weapons that were too fast for Caster to completely deflect. A javelin had been thrown first with its target set on the pale-faced and wide-eyed Rin, forcing her Servant to strike it aside with Kanshou before he could step in front of her while a dagger grazed his shoulder.

"Our swords split the water."

Bakuya struck a cluster of needles and sent all but a few ringing aside, one of which pierced into his forearm while the rest whizzed by. Everything else was swiftly shot down by another thundering wave of replicas, and the Assassins fled back into hiding after taking one more casualty to Caster's projections. Gritting his teeth through the pain of his fresh wounds as well as the chunk taken from his arm that had developed from a nerve-searing pain to a burning soreness that began to throb, seeming to spread across his body with each clash of swords.

"Our names reach the imperial villa."

From The Shadow's temporary silence, the near-instantly produced mass of shadow had taken a vaguely humanoid shape, a stretched 'giant' of darkness with long slender arms and no legs. Six glowing purple orbs spread across it's 'face' around a single central orb, as well as a larger lone orb in the middle of its 'chest'. The 'giant' released a shrill, evil howl and thrust out one of it's long slender arms and shadowed fist, but Caster stood to take it head on.

"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together."

The short swords in his hands grew thick and twice their length and sprouted crystalline spikes, yet Caster did not seem finished with his chant at all, even as he clashed with the giants fist in a shimmering shockwave of light-infused force that blew back the fist of the giant. Sakura's eyes flashed open for a moment in surprise before rage returned to her snarling visage. "That is not Zelretch...! Is that... an anti-curse Noble Phantasm!?" The giant's other fist came down the moment it recovered from the staggering strike, but Caster and Rin used the momentary pause after the initial clash to pull back from them, nearing the outskirts of the plaza.

"But we shall cast them down to Earth,-"

" _Rho Aias!"_

Caster raised both swords into the air above his head, each pressing against the other as a boundary field of seven iridescent flower petals surrounded him and Rin from the air and each side. The Shadow Giant brought it's enormous hand down again to crush Caster and Rin, powering through three layers of the shield that left Caster grinding his teeth as if Rho Aias was his own flesh. The remaining Assassins saw another chance to attack and took it, hurling another wave of weapons that bounced harmlessly away regardless of the direction they had come from. Shirou had long since become capable of extending the Boundary Field of Rho Aias by splitting the layers apart in a weakened omnidirectional shield. He finished the secondary reinforcement chant for his signature weapons.

"-to take back what is rightfully ours."

Kanshou and Bakuya erupted in swirling light and shadow, quickly condensing into a new form consisting of both swords, a claymore with a yin-yang symbol suspended in a crystalline gyro sphere in the center of the hilt and whose half-black-and-white blade was a sharp and flat double helix that closed up at the tip of the blade. Across the entire surface of the blade was a crimson tortoiseshell pattern, and despite the hollow sections of the weapon, was a powerful sword that had awakened a portion of the true abilities Kanshou and Bakuya were said to have.

Caster slashed upward at the Shadow Giant with a daring leap, bearing a simmering glare that pierced the fiend as much as his new sword. As the darkness faded and he landed on open ground, his glare settled on the corrupted woman across the plaza. Sakura examined the gleaming sword with fear as it split her Shadow Giant, leaving just her and them. Her momentary fear quickly became fuel for her insatiable fury and five Shadow Giants rose in front of her.

They seemed to fly across the ground as they tried to close the distance, but Caster calmly held the weight of the huge sword in his right hand as it began to slim down and change form once again, his left hand being filled by his sleek black longbow. Even as an arrow the sword retained it's signature colors and yin-yang gyro sphere, while the double helix expanded and swirled around the arrow from hilt to tip at fluctuating distance to the center shaft. Crystals sprouted across the arrow underneath the helix, growing closer to the head until it broke free from the helix and formed a thorned arrowhead of shining black and white crystal.

"Gan Jiang and Mo Ye: Pierce the Heavens!"

Caster nocked his arrow in what felt like slow motion as he spoke. His intense focus and adrenaline heightened his senses and he smoothly raised his bow and drew back the arrow of duality before they could even come close to him. As he took aim not at the Shadow Giants but Sakura behind them, Caster felt the entire 'world' begin to rumble from a cause unknown. The land and air shook violently without end and Caster's arrow flew from his fingertips on a weak course. Two giants that were in the arrow's direct path were torn through with ease and failed to reform as they simply lost function and dispersed. Sakura's eyes went wide as the giants fell yet she could not move before the arrow found it's mark in less than a heartbeat.

A shrill howl of pain amid the explosion of shadow released from Sakura in response to the hit made it clear that the intended killing-blow had been avoided, but her conjured Shadow Giants could not be sustained and vanished where they stood. Sakura's outburst faded as quickly as it came, revealing that nearly half of her torso had been blown away by the powerful arrow. Her Mystic Code immediately enveloped her and she hastily retreated into the darkness.

Rin and Caster could not pursue her. They stood transfixed on the sky as they witnessed the finale of a clash between a malicious crimson energy and a dazzling white beam of light, clearly the source of the rumbling that had spread across the city. It was close, relatively speaking, and the shockwave of the collision knocked Rin off her feet from miles away. A helping hand from Caster pulled her back up and kept her upright, and with a sad smile Rin thanked him before looking back up at the now empty sky in fear and awe. "Caster... was that...?"

The elder Shirou's tired eyes showed a spark of vitality as he identified both forces that opposed each other, having been witness to both in his life. Having come this far, Caster was unsurprised that this particular foe would have shown up here.

"Yeah. That was Enuma Elish."


	6. Chapter 5: Herald of Destruction

This ended up being a pretty big chapter! This is only a taste of the epic battles to come. The worlds of men and gods come together in a battle that provides as many questions as it does answers.

Thanks again for reading and enjoy!

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Battles raged across the city as Masters and Servants fought and bled in the name of life and death, of existence itself. Tohsaka Toshimi walked fearlessly beside Scathach through the heart of the city, discussing their abilities and what kind of tactics they would use, the standard conversation between Master and Servant before their first battle.

Lancer was already witness to Toshimi's prowess with Jewel Magecraft and integration of runes, and even to her surprising physical strength and skill that allowed her to use a combination of both to defeat Servants one on one.

As a Caster in the previous war, Scathach had been able to analyze what skills Toshimi decided not to hold back almost entirely. Toshimi on the other hand had only off-hand knowledge sparingly given from Cu Chulainn during her training. The two never directly fought, but they didn't have much to discuss that wasn't already known. Toshimi and Lancer stopped their briefing just before beginning to casually cross the bridge.

"It's show time, Master. I sense an enemy up ahead patiently awaiting our arrival. "

"Then we'll walk into their open arms."

Scathach was slightly taken aback at her Master's foolish bravery, but the overwhelming confidence exuding from Toshimi silenced Lancer before her lips had parted. With a racing mind Lancer followed behind her Master and stepped onto the bridge.

Atop the Fuyuki Big Bridge, Toshimi strode down the road sporting her Azoth Staff and Vulcan Robe right into the waiting jaws of the enemy Servant, who stood out in the open at the end of the huge red bridge. His cuneiform-inscribed armor was as golden as his hair, and his eyes bright blood red. An aged man with medium length dark hair and blue eyes in a scarlet suit stood close beside him, frowning as if he didn't approve of his Servant's boldness.

Toshimi couldn't help but unveil an amused smirk at the sight of them, shaking her head thrice. "And here I was planning on keeping my cards off the table... Just my luck to run into 'Goldie' on my first encounter. Alright Lancer, watch my back and enjoy the show. I don't want you to get caught up in the chaos."

Lancer walked silently behind her Master, hesitantly following the order to let Toshimi have the glory of opening the battle with the Servant that she identified as "Goldie". Scathach didn't really mind the sideline though, as she knew her Master could handle herself. After all, she had managed to take out the Amazon Queen and many other famous heroes all on her own during the previous War with her powerful Azoth Staff- little did she know that Toshimi had been holding back the entire time.

The battle began like a spark. It came from nothing, both combatants intending to fire the first shot from opposite ends of the bridge.

"Gate of-"

"Trace On."

"Babylon!"

Gilgamesh felt his heart skip a beat; the threat of immediate death assaulted him as he prepared to open his Gate of Babylon, a gate of light that was capable of retrieving every treasure Gilgamesh had ever collected, to fire off warning shots at the Master wandering in the vanguard. He tilted his head to the left on divine instinct and watched a sword soar past his ear and deflect the nameless weapon he was attempting to fire from a golden ripple of magical energy.

Toshimi had nothing but a smirk in reply to his enraged glare, and immediately prepared for combat.

Archer's spine froze, only for an instant, as he remembered his death at the hands of Emiya Shirou at the end of the Fifth War. Gilgamesh chastised himself for having felt the slightest notion of fear from a human mongrel, though he did decide not to underestimate the woman who clearly possessed the same type of magecraft that countered him.

Toshimi continued walking towards Archer, leaving Lancer gawking at the projected Noble Phantasm mid-wave of her hand. Even Scathach had never seen something quite like that before, but she knew that whatever happened was borderline Sorcery, and she couldn't imagine why her Master had kept such power a secret in the previous war to use it so casually now. Gilgamesh tried to take the initiative, aiming golden shimmers of light towards his foe.

"Gate of Babylon!"

A hail of steel erupted from the gold light of Archer's Noble Phantasm, ten nameless weapons lost to history. Toshimi merely pointed her staff, particularly the large Onyx perched upon it, at the oncoming swords, spears, and axes.

"Hagalaz* Abwehr!"

A powerful explosion of compressed rotating wind erupted from the gem, knocking all the weapons Gilgamesh shot towards her way off course and avoiding damage to the bridge as they arced around her. The King of Heroes grit his teeth in irritation. Underneath his arrogance, he knew that his opponent had the power to fight him. Not only was she clearly experienced, but she was able to activate A-Rank Magecraft almost instantly and with pinpoint precision, on top of her irksome Reality Marble.

Suddenly, Tokiomi stepped forward and called out to her. "Brave Master, Tokiomi of the Tohsaka asks you to name yourself." Archer glared at his Master, but his budding interest in the magus kept him quiet for the moment.

Girlish laughter is all Toshimi had in reply, at first. She recovered however, and introduced herself rather sarcastically, shifting her weight onto her left side and planting her hand on her hip. "I suppose it is my displeasure to meet you, Grandfather. I am Tohsaka Toshimi, daughter to Rin and Emiya Shirou."

Tokiomi merely furrowed his brow at the passing insult and kept talking. Gilgamesh on the other hand, his expression fouled at Shirou's name, though he was not entirely surprised after having heard her spell.

"You use our Magecraft well."

"Far greater than you, surely." Toshimi snapped back immediately with undisguised venom. After all, she was fully aware of Tokiomi's character and actions in life and while she knew him to be 'kind' in the common sense of the word, he was a mediocre magus who thought abandoning his own blood to the savagery and desecration of the Matou was the _right_ thing to do- not someone she wanted to have a conversation with.

"And yet you seem to use something else, some kind of runes perhaps? You have integrated a foreign magic with our own, propelling it generations ahead of what could have been hoped. Fulfilling our assignment from Zelretch may no longer be out of our grasp..."

Raising an eyebrow, Toshimi recalled the task Zelretch had given their ancestor Nagato, along with the blueprint for its construction. The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch was a tool of the Second Magic whose structure and magical theory couldn't be understood, much less analyzed, even by Unlimited Blade Works. Its capabilities were vast and terrifying, able to draw upon virtually unlimited magical energy by enabling the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon to take the energy from an instance within the Kaleidescope and was famed for having pushed back a mirror image of the Moon with a limitless Ether Cannon in the hands of its true master. The sole ability of this tool was to open a path to other dimensions and utilize the energy within to directly attack a target.

Smirking as she thought she may get some enjoyment out of Tokiomi after all, Toshimi extended an open left hand forward, shimmering with focused light and magical energy. Tokiomi narrowed his eyes at the light, a feeling of immense unease taking root in his heart.

"Ah, yes. Master Zelretch's Jeweled Sword. My mother deciphered much of the blueprint before I was even thought of, during the Fifth Holy Grail War- only 10 years after the Fourth. Even with the Einzberns and my father's Reality Marble however, Mother could not truly complete it until later in her life."

Tokiomi's eyes widened, astonished that his daughter could be capable of that when she had only just come of age. Still, his unease refused to fade as the light in his granddaughter's hand flared, the light seeming to solidify only moments after. In place of the light was a glimmering colorless jewel in the shape of a sword, unrefined in appearance yet carrying inside it a mythical alien energy. Unlike the incomplete sword first used by her mother, this was a complete reconstruction of Zelretch's Mystic Code from scratch.

Tokiomi's eyes widened and almost seemed to bulge while clenching his teeth in panic the moment he identified it, glancing to the side at his Servant. "Gilgamesh, do not underestimate her. That sword is dangerous, even to-"

"Be quiet."

The Golden King's lips curled into a mad smile, as he uncharacteristically shrugged off his Master's impudence and eyed the Jeweled Sword with greed. He'd never seen anything like it before, but simply because it existed, Gilgamesh would add it to his collection without fail.

Toshimi had actually begun giggling again, almost exaggeratedly, and pointed the Jeweled Sword at Tokiomi as a fierce light built up within the jeweled blade. As the sword seemed it would explode and release a wave of Ether at the frozen Master, Toshimi lowered the weapon and allowed it to fade into particles of light.

"You are not worthy to face this relic, Tokiomi. Not yet."

"Tch." Archer raised his right hand into the air, preparing to fire another, much larger wave of steel, this time numbering around fifty. The gate of light expanded behind Gilgamesh to encompass them all, each ripple soon revealing blades of all shapes and sizes.

Toshimi caught on quick, waving her staff in a wide arc across the road of the bridge.

"Algiz* Schild von-"

"Gate of Babylon!"

"-Feuer und Steine!"

Toshimi ripped the bottom of the bridge in half, gathering all of the nearby materials to form a fiercely blazing black stone wall, which was aglow with crimson pulses of mana originating from the center, binding it all together. It barely blocked the assault of Noble Phantasms, quickly falling beneath the rain of swords, spears, and axes. Each of the first dozen weapons broke through parts of the wall, though they also lost their momentum and flailed aside with the rubble. When the wall finally came crashing down, Toshimi had seemingly flown into the air, changing magically into new attire.

"Trace On."

She now wore a rune-inscribed scarlet battle suit that stuck closely to her figure, armored only with silver pauldrons- the remodeled runic armor of Cu Chulainn. Inscribed on the suit were the runes of Algiz, Ehwaz, Kenaz, Thurisaz, and Raidho. These runes enhanced the defense, strength, agility, speed, and sensory processes of the wearer- in short, the Armor of Chulainn was specialized for close combat in virtually every way.

The Priestess of Vulcan donned the armor of her most admired childhood hero, still holding her personally forged Azoth Staff firmly in her left hand, while Caliburn had come to occupy the other. Rather than defend it, she let the bridge collapse against the rain of weapons. More importantly, Toshimi hovered high above the bridge upon angelic winged sandals, leaving Archer glaring as gears turned in his head.

Lancer was forced to leap backwards towards land on her side of the bridge as it fell, keeping to her Master's order and just watching until she was called on. She did not have to wait long for Toshimi to send her into battle, but she wasn't expecting exactly what she got.

Before the exchange between Toshimi, Scathach and Gilgamesh could truly begin, a distant wave of vile dark magical energy flared out of sight, expanding dangerously close to an allied Servant. Toshimi immediately ordered her Servant to leave, knowing it was none other than Artoria Pendragon that had caught the corruptive gaze of Angra Mainyu.

"Lancer, get over there and assist Saber!"

Scathach dove aside to avoid a complementary farewell of Babylonian weapons, and after quickly regaining her footing with a shout, "Don't die on me, Master! You still owe me a rematch!", then turned and ran north along the riverbank with swirling winds of mana bursting from her feet, leaving Toshimi alone against a momentarily bewildered Gilgamesh. The short pause allowed him to find joy in facing an opponent he found worthy, smirking due to his budding excitement while he considered her an utter fool for seriously trying to face him alone.

"You will come to regret that decision, human."

"We'll see about that."

The King of Heroes pulled from his Gate of Babylon a sword with a jade hilt and a silver blade in his right hand, as well as a chained and barbed steel scythe in his left.

"Hmph. Did you think flying up there would save you from me, girl? I'll drag you back down to the earth where you belong!"

Gilgamesh threw his scythe in a literal whirlwind to the side, still held in hand by its chain and picking up speed, followed by a volley of powerful arrows from the Gate of Babylon. The models of Harpe, Durandal, Merodach, Caladbolg, and finally the skyscraping Ig-Alima sped forth from the gate of light. Gilgamesh was no longer throwing out fodder Noble Phantasms, but it was still nothing close to his full power.

Toshimi hardly blinked until the tip of the Mountain Felling Sword emerged from the Gate. Only then did she laugh, and let her confident expression flip instantly to that of excitement and lust for battle.

"I'd like to see you try!"

The lightly armored magus flew straight towards the advancing weapons, blasting forth in a red blur of motion to face them head on. The first obstacle for Toshimi to overcome was the wind-scythe that had continued homing in on her as Gilgamesh used the seemingly infinite chain to manipulate it. Without so much as turning her head to face it, she tossed one of the eight 'small' palm-fitting topaz in her arsenal right into the swirling vortex around the spinning scythe, adding in runic protection to ensure it reached the center of the whirlwind.

"Algiz* Luft Abwher!"

The topaz was protected momentarily by an ethereal green barrier that was destroyed in nearly the same moment, before a burst of wind exploded inside the raging tornado, instantly destabilizing the pressure causing it to fall back to a snarling Gilgamesh below.

With a swift swipe and a twist of her staff, Harpe and Durandal diverted with a sharp collision of steel, failing to stop her charge. It was forged by Toshimi's own hand, based on the same design as the unbreakable Durandal or Durindana and she often wielded it as an effective polearm.

Merodach was the first real obstacle, glowing with sharp golden light. One of the more powerful weapons inside the Gate of Babylon before the mighty Ea, named for the Babylonian God-King Marduk. While it was certainly more powerful than Caliburn, the sword of King Arthur parried its model and diverted it mere inches away from her body. Even Toshimi's undegraded image of Caliburn broke under the force of its original, while she rotated herself in midair to further avoid Merodach as the shimmering spiral blade that was the model of Caladbolg approached with a radiant hum.

"Ehwaz. Thurisaz."

Toshimi skillfully caught the Noble Phantasm in her freed hand after enhancing both the endurance and power of her arm using the runes embedded in her armor as her body spun through the air and threw it straight back at the Mountain Feller as it came crashing down from a heightened angle, meeting it head on in a dazzling flash of rainbow light. The rainbow sword's light flickered out as the towering divine sword lost a small portion of its momentum and merely cracked the surface.

"Not bad at all, Goldie, but you're in for a rough ride!"

"You would dare to lay your hands on my treasures? That will cost you dearly, wench!"

The Azoth Staff vanished from Toshimi's hands and was instantly replaced by a blinding golden light that radiated from a golden longsword more powerful than even Merodach- A Holy Sword surpassing any other, forged by the Fairies in the core of the planet itself, the legendary Excalibur. The sight of the Sword of Promised Victory sent chills down Gilgamesh's spine for the third time in minutes. "Impossible! How could you fake _that_ with such ease!?"

Without so much as a word in reply, Toshimi raised the Fairy-crafted Sword above her head. Glowing orbs of light rose from everything around; earth, grass, air, and from Toshimi herself as well. Finally, the blade began to shine and instantly expanded into a massive sword of light, not even close to half the size of the Mountain Feller that had nearly reached her.

"EX-!"

Toshimi brought down the sword like a hammer atop Ig-Alima at point blank range, drowning it in light as they met in a clash whose shockwave shattered earth, stone, and steel, shaking the very air and even the ground around them for nearly a mile.

"-CALIBUR!"

The two Divine Constructs ended their clash with the splitting of the Mountain Feller beneath the overwhelming force of Excalibur's light. Gilgamesh stared in shock and awe at the display, the perfect halves of the weapon annihilating the landscape around them as they fell and shook the earth, raising parallel walls of steel across the empty waterway and well into the city on both sides. Expending such a quantity of magical energy strained nerves across her body, but she never lost her vigor and floated with a smirk taking controlled breaths.

"How... can this be? I refuse...! I will not struggle against a mongrel like you!" The Gate of Babylon opened up to accommodate well over a hundred nameless weapons, all aimed straight at Toshimi. They fired off in waves, but Toshimi hardly seemed to brace herself for the oncoming storm.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Gilgamesh..." Holding Excalibur in her right hand, a thick fur belt appeared around her waist adorned with crossed horns in the center. The natural reddish-brown fur was so long that it was practically a skirt. It was an artifact from the Age of Gods known to double the wearer's strength. With this, she could even wield Excalibur single-handedly as if it was meant to.

"I do not specialize in forging fakes." As the words were spoken, a lightning bolt appeared in her left hand accompanied by a thundercrack, which immediately took form as a bulky bronze-colored war-hammer made for one handed use, engraved with Norse art and runes and a central triquetra symbol.

Toshimi thrust the sparking hammer forward and spoke its true name, aimed at the oncoming hail of weapons as a massive lightning bolt struck the hammer from the sky with a sharp crack. The lightning seemed to charge up stronger inside the hammer, waiting to be released.

"With the Fist of Magni, I cast you down! _Mjolnir!_ "

Roaring thunderously, an arcing stream of lightning blasted forth and spread amongst all of the oncoming weapons like a wave, casting each one back down to earth flailing or otherwise melting them partially or even destroying them instantly, transforming the land around what used to a bridge into a graveyard of white-hot steel. The force behind it sent torrential winds swirling around the bolt and Toshimi as the source, her hair and belt flowing wildly in response. Toshimi's second activation of a Divine Construct seared her nerves and caused her muscles to spasm, but she held herself together with willpower and took a moment to rest and take slow, deep breaths.

Gilgamesh simmered in his fury, angry at everything- not just his enemy but himself as well. He took a deep breath to refocus, and Gilgamesh's thoughts drifted to his friend and lover, Enkidu. The human magus floating in the sky before him was nothing compared to Enkidu or the Bull of Heaven no matter what Divine Construct she held. Still, this human girl was going to push him to a level that Gilgamesh hadn't fought at since times of legend. Unlike with her father who had caught him off guard, he now knew a degree of what to expect- no matter the difference between their power. It was times like these that made Gilgamesh despise the limitations of the Archer Class.

"Not only can you wield Mjolnir and Megingjoro, but you even changed its form to suit your own size while extending the handle to make Jarngreipr effectively useless... Tohsaka Toshimi, I don't know how you obtained it, but you have earned my respect. I vow that I will destroy you using every treasure required from my collection!" Gilgamesh spoke with no hesitation or unease, without a single drop of fear. Even the hammer of Thor could not dare to threaten him if he really got serious.

Returning the reeled-in wind scythe to his vault, Gilgamesh retrieved another of his relics to combat Toshimi; an ornate gilded crimson carpet hovered just above the ground as it emerged from the Gate. It was a crude tool of levitation compared to the Sandals of Hermes or Vimana, but it would allow Gilgamesh to minimize his current disadvantage. Swiftly stepping aboard his magic carpet, Gilgamesh blasted forth in a blur towards his airborne enemy, leaving Tokiomi behind to take cover within the closest sturdy structure, knowing his only role in such a battle was to observe or wait for an unlikely chance to strike.

Toshimi was no fool, she knew that Gilgamesh was starting to get serious. However, that was exactly what she wanted; to fight the King of Heroes at his best and destroy him. There was no great purpose behind Toshimi's desire, only the fight itself. Gilgamesh was the oldest hero who shared the blood of Man and God, a 'gateway' to the power of the Old Gods. If Toshimi could defeat Gilgamesh, even in the vessel of a 'Servant', she would truly be able to step onto the stage beyond.

Smirking savagely, she activated her winged sandals with a Greek shout, " _Aerósakoi_ _!"_ and exploded forth on a collision course with Gilgamesh at nearly twice his speed.

Gilgamesh prepared to fire a wave of weapons while also pulling out a portion of the Chains of Enkidu with his free hand, the oriental jade-hilted sword still occupying his right. The first weapon to emerge from the Gate was a large claymore embraced by ice that froze everything in its path to leave a trail of frosty mist in its wake, followed by a wave of ornate golden weapons- a sickle, an axe, a scimitar, a longsword, and a spear.

After that came the Norse spear Gungnir, and finally the towering red sword Sul-sagana; Although a fair bit smaller than Ig-Alima, this massive Divine Construct could topple mountains and beyond, due to the powerful destructive magic sleeping within. Sul-sagana was a single-edged sword whose jagged super-heated blade jutted out of a mass of obsidian that ran along the length of the sword, seeming almost demonic. While it wasn't immediately released from the Gate, it remained ready to fire while the tip of its volcanic blade seemed to become hotter every passing second.

Toshimi's excited expression hardened instantly and she slowed down, bracing herself for the mighty barrage of Noble Phantasms, each one identified as A Rank or above with ease. Behind them, Gilgamesh released a small wave of lesser weapons from the Gate for good measure.

The clash between Toshimi and Gilgamesh's arrows took only moments after they were fired; Mjolnir came down upon the frozen sword wrapped in lightning, shattering the ice that had built up in a misty explosion and sending it hurtling down below to join the rest of the steel tombstones. The various golden weapons seemed to be guided by their own thoughts as they swerved away from Toshimi in separate directions just before they would have collided with both of her own weapons and began circling back around.

Gungnir wasn't far behind- it's successor Gae Bolg was famed as a thrown weapon, and Gungnir was no different. It too became empowered while in flight, and Toshimi's eyes hardly failed to see it's connection to one of her own weapons. Toshimi dropped Mjolnir without hesitation and gripped Excalibur with both hands.

While she didn't have time nor need to activate its true power, Toshimi poured what magical energy she could into the Holy Sword, and light rose from within the blade to strike Gungnir down with the sharp ring of steel and a golden flash-

-and then she turned to face the five golden weapons that had approached from behind. The first was the golden spear, engraved in crimson cuneiform symbols like the rest of the weapons. On each side of it and slightly behind was one of the golden swords, the scimitar spinning so fast that it seemed a solid disc, and the longsword poised to run her through with more power than the spear.

With simple desire for its return and a small expenditure of magical energy, Mjolnir shot back up from its freefall, while Excalibur knocked aside the spear and took a powerful blow on the side of its blade when used to strike the golden longsword in the same motion, numbness resonating within Toshimi's arms and nearly pushing through her guard. Mjolnir arrived just in time to blast the swirling scimitar into smithereens as Toshimi struck the longsword with a one-handed grip on Excalibur and caught the surging hammer while swinging upwards at the same time. While the cuneiform weapons didn't seem to be recognizable from any legends, they certainly didn't lose in power.

The final two ornate weapons, the sickle and the axe, had seemingly disappeared only for Toshimi to look down and see the sickle arcing against gravity to assault her from below. She deduced that the axe would be coming from above, aiming to take advantage of the omnidirectional attack. With the aid of her winged sandals, Toshimi turned herself horizontal with fluid ease and spun through the air, focusing her magical energy into her weapons. In her right hand, the tip of Excalibur's blade passed beside the golden axe, and in her left, Mjolnir fell vastly short of connecting with the sickle. The next revolution saw Mjolnir shatter the axe on impact with sparks arcing across the fragments and the sickle sliced in two by the light of Excalibur.

Taking a short breath as she readjusted herself upright again, Toshimi smiled as if she was having fun. With just the nameless rain of weapons to face, Toshimi allowed Mjolnir and Excalibur to return to the 'Vault of Etna' and spread her arms and legs wide.

"Trace on." A perfect replica of each weapon was recorded by her Reality Marble, and materialized on a collision course to strike each other aside with the sharp ring of clashing steel. She left only one blade alone, catching the weapon and hurling it back at a glaring Archer.

Gilgamesh scoffed and floated aside, letting it pass back into the Gate of Babylon behind him. Toshimi and Gilgamesh made eye contact and considered their next options. She was now only a few dozen meters away from Gilgamesh, and until then had been a stalemate between the two but it couldn't last forever. Gilgamesh retrieved a golden-rimmed lens from his Gate, and held it up to his eye as looked upon his enemy. It stayed where he left it as his hand returned to his side. His golden lens revealed a great many mysteries regarding Toshimi's unique strength that made the ancient king begin to understand her, and he truly began to take her as a serious threat.

Furthermore, the half-sized mountain slayer steadily built up heat energy to the point that the air itself almost seemed to boil around the blade. Archer smirked and spoke as if that was a cue, "Drown her in flame, Sul-sagana, until even her ashes have been purged from this world!" Rather than blast forth from the Gate, the blade flared and released a wave of what could only be described as a beam of blazing orange light.

Toshimi's eyes narrowed upon the flaming blade, and she only just managed to call out the name of the shield that shot to the front of her mind, staring at the glorious flame rapidly approaching.

"Svalinn!"

The ancient shield from Norse Mythology that Toshimi had brought forth was said to guard the Earth from the purging light of the Sun. Should Svalinn fall, it is said that everything shall burn, from the land to the sea and sky. Svalinn manifested as a round golden buckler depicting its legend and worn upon Toshimi's left arm as well as a projected barrier of light that also took the form of a bounded field in the shape of a golden sphere around Toshimi that held back the blaze of Sul-sagana. Svalinn emitted a celestial hum once activated, as if the Gods themselves were singing of its glory.

Gilgamesh could barely make out what was going on, until he saw the light of Sul-sagana clash against the bounded field produced by the shield, splitting off on all sides as it seemingly failed to pierce Toshimi's defenses. For the first time, this didn't irritate Archer; instead it only fueled his slowly returning excitement. This girl had managed to hold off everything he threw at her, but he wouldn't keep holding back for long.

Toshimi pushed forward through the air in a flash as soon as the light of Sul-sagana faded. She didn't escape the blaze of the infernal sword completely however, her armor having several minor burns across her arms and legs that hardly seemed to faze her. She began unarmed, only to hold her Azoth Staff once again and set aflame by a burst of magical energy.

"Hölle - Anbraten Umarmungs!"

Fire erupted in a stream from the onyx adorned staff, spreading out in a wave to cover Toshimi's charge. The volume of flame produced obscured her from sight as she flew through the smoke left in its wake. Even her whispers could not escape the roaring flames. "Fall, Gilgamesh..."

The King of Heroes spurred his magic carpet forward to meet her as smoke filled his nostrils, seeming to cut apart the flames as he slashed through them with an upward strike from the oriental longsword- for a sword that could part even dragon fire, such flames were nothing against it. As the fire and smoke appeared to have been absorbed into the steaming silver blade, Toshimi was nowhere to be found.

Gilgamesh's fierce red eyes darted to each side, below and above, and found Toshimi descending upon him with an overhead blow from a glimmering golden staff. It was all he could do to raise his golden clad arm against the impact, but he did not retreat even as it dented his gauntlet with a sharp ring and pushed his arm down slowly. Instead, Archer sprung back his arm and pulled the Chains of Enkidu, which rapidly wrapped around the staff to hold it in place. Gilgamesh spoke with half a glare, leaning towards Toshimi as if trying to see literally into her soul with the fixed golden lens. "To think that you hold so many Divine Constructs... Just who are you, really?"

Toshimi blinked a few times in surprise, but her expression seemed to soften and she smiled as she spoke, and yet the unnatural power she exerted upon the Chains of Enkidu as she tried to push against it did not reflect her attitude. "I told you true, King of Heroes. I am _barely_ more than human, known by most as the Priestess of Vulcan. You could say that some of these relics came to me in visions... I simply reconstructed them _with my own hands_ at the Forge of Mount Etna after analyzing and studying their composition. Long story short... I'm a bona-fide Sorcerer, the sole practitioner of the Sixth Magic."

Gilgamesh's initial look of utter disbelief was replaced for a few seconds by a blank expression until finally, he broke out into mad relentless laughter. Only after almost a minute did Gilgamesh finally reign in his chaotic emotions. "I see, I get it now! Everything about you and your father makes sense... You are of the same ilk as the Disciples of Nin-Agal! The God you serve is different, but your Origin _must_ be the same!"

It was clear from Toshimi's raised eyebrow that she hadn't heard of them, and Gilgamesh couldn't help but simmer in restrained fury as he spat out an explanation.

"Due to their 'Origin' of Blacksmith, rare humans were selected at birth as the disciples of our God of the forge. These chosen were famed for their ability to analyze materials and use the best of them to forge powerful weapons and develop new technology, or analyze weapons and other objects to identify their strengths and weaknesses... The skill must have been distorted over time into that "Tracing" of yours by modern Magecraft. Your connection with the Gods awakened a combination of the Old and New. You are smart, though. The Gods are bound to the Reverse Side of the World and cannot directly interact with the world of men... Receiving visions to copy their relics and building upon them with ancient knowledge was a stroke of genius that even I cannot see a method to."

Gilgamesh now revealed a glare that surpassed any other he'd given before. It was not a glare of irritation or anger, it was of utter hatred. His intent to purge Toshimi from the world was seared into his body, mind, and soul. "I acknowledge your skill if nothing else, but the Gods you serve are reason enough to exterminate you. You should have left them in the past where they belong!"

The King of Heroes growled and thrust the jade-hilted dragon-slaying sword towards Toshimi, but she released her Azoth Staff and seemed to fly backwards in a streak of red light leaving a mild gale in her wake, far out of his reach. Gilgamesh felt his emotions come to a boil as his thoughts drifted to the past, sparked by his uncovered hatred for the Gods. Soon enough, only the thought of Enkidu's last breath remained in his mind, and finally Gilgamesh could no longer bear his rage.

Archer threw aside Toshimi's staff with a scowl, thrust the Chains of Enkidu and the jade sword into the Gate of Babylon, and impulsively pulled out the golden hilt of a tri-segment cylindrical 'sword' with a sinister black 'blade' wrapped in thick, glowing red cuneiform inscriptions. The cuneiform-inscribed artifact was Ea, the infamous Sword of Rupture, the manifestation of the act of creation that split the primordial world into "Heaven", "Hell", and "Earth", represented by each segment of the weapon's drill-like blade.

"Be afraid, human! Nothing you have can withstand my true power. The Sword of Rupture will destroy every last particle of you!"

Finally, Toshimi's gaze hardened once more and her full guard was up. This was Ea; the strongest weapon ever seen on Earth, with destructive power exceeding even Excalibur. Taking a deep breath, Toshimi returned Svalinn to her Vault.

 _It's too early to use Ignis, damnit... Zelretch, give me strength!_

"That is where you are wrong, Gilgamesh. I will prove it to you, now!"

The Priestess of Vulcan raised both hands in front of her body as she slowly ascended to even greater heights, drawing The Sword of Rupture's aim away from her allies. As she rose even further into the air, Toshimi's right hand began to radiate a soft white light.

Gilgamesh instantly recognized it to be the same pure light that put Tokiomi on edge. He narrowed his eyes observingly through his magical lense at the light as it formed into the colorless Jeweled Sword, still struggling to see how it could be a threat to Ea. The King of Heroes had become more interested in testing the Jeweled Sword than overcoming it- but only for a moment.

"This is the sword of Zelretch, briefly my teacher, and one of the most powerful Magi ever to live in my era. Ea is powerful, but can it overcome the might of the universe itself?"

Even Gilgamesh was taken aback at the question, eyes going wide before narrowing into an even deeper glare as he attempted to shut out his hesitation. _The might of the universe itself? I will not fall to such things!_

The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch flashed as magical energy seemed to flow into the weapon without a source. It only grew with each passing moment, and Gilgamesh could feel his spine tingle as the alien energy gathered. Toshimi took a deep breath as she raised the sword above her head, and the light emitting from the sword seemed to freeze and reverse- condensing the glowing ether onto the blade.

Zelretch's ultimate Mystic Code erupted in Toshimi's hand with a flash of sharp white light, flaring up into the sky in a thin pillar only for a moment.

Gilgamesh pulled Ea to his side as it's segments each began spinning in opposite directions; the middle segment spun clockwise and the top and bottom segments spun counterclockwise, releasing a sharp howl as it kicked up a torrent of scarlet magical winds that were seemingly sucked into the weapon itself. "I know not the origin of that weapon... It may indeed be as powerful as you say. Let us see which is the strongest- your mysterious jewel of the future or the Star of Creation!"

Toshimi eyed the cataclysmic Sword of Rupture with unease. In truth, she knew that the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch could not hope to match Enuma Elish at its full power- In a match between limitless power and unlimited energy, there could be only one result. However, she would do everything she could to stop it here. All she had to do was survive- if she could do that, her victory was almost certain.

"Let's finish this, Gilgamesh."

A savage smile returned to Gilgamesh's hateful visage, and the output of Ea's chaotic winds ramped up another gear, causing solid stone to shatter and rise up from the distant ground along with entire sections of ruined buildings, swirling around Gilgamesh like planetary rings.

"Very well. I hope your sword is as powerful as you think, otherwise this entire dimension will be erased, along with you and your allies."

Toshimi glowered at Gilgamesh without speaking another word save her incantation. "Magischer Strahl voll geladen. Die Waffen legt an!"

The light surrounding Toshimi's jeweled sword flared up and began expanding into what seemed to be a magical circle, and yet it broke the usual rules and actually took shape as a 'magic square'. From this intricate square of magical formulae came a light beyond what the sword had previously exhibited, forming a 'portal' to another dimension that took magical energy from the other side and expelled it within a condensed stream of pure ether.

"Ehre sei Zelretch!"

As both unearthly weapons fired up their engines, Gilgamesh momentarily lost himself in the purity of the Jeweled Sword. The mass of light never seemed to stop growing, just pushing magical energy out from the rift in astronomical amounts.

The torrential scarlet winds down below exploded once again, as the King of Heroes raised Ea's power to the last stage. The chaos of nearby objects drawn in by Ea shattered instantly under the pressure of its fully released power, the scarlet winds being tainted with a tinge of darkness that seemed to draw Toshimi in- showing her visions of what could only be described as Hell on Earth.

Ea presented Primordial Earth to Toshimi as a cataclysmic wasteland of lava, gas, and bi-polar elements that ravaged the Earth in storms of chaos. The "Truth" of the primordial World's existence was embedded within the depths of Ea's construction, and released as certain destruction.

"Enuma Elish!"

The Sword of Rupture seemed to explode as Gilgamesh thrust it forward before the dazzling beam of ether reached him- The vengeful torrent released by Ea created a scarlet wave-like virtual dislocation of space-time, annihilating everything between the opposing forces completely and utterly.

Toshimi brought the sword of Zelretch upward in a slash through thin air, directing the endless beam of light to intercept the incarnation of destruction and creation and divert it into the sky.

Simply colliding was all it took for Enuma Elish and the Jeweled Sword to threaten to tear the city apart, releasing a shockwave that shattered glass in every building for miles around.

The wave of ether produced by the Jeweled Sword endured the primordial death wave of Enuma Elish only just- but the overwhelming power of Ea was still too much for the lesser, even if limitless energy and began to push dangerously closer to Toshimi every passing moment. For every inch it pushed the light of Zelretch's sword back, however, Enuma Elish was also shifted upwards and away.

The young magus could do nothing but stare in fascination at the display of Enuma Elish, but despite her 'trump card' quickly losing ground, Toshimi held no fear within her. Instead, she raised the radiant sword to her side, ignoring the intense burning sensation that spread throughout her body more with every second she held the Jeweled Sword. The infinite beam finally ended at her will, and Enuma Elish momentarily had nothing but open air between them. She threw the Jeweled Sword, pouring the last bit of ether from the closing Kaleidoscope into the Mystic Code before the magic square twisted in on itself and vanished.

"Welt, Ende!"

White light gathered as the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch focused its remaining magical energy to self-destruct. Enuma Elish seemed to swallow the shimmering jewel before it suddenly exploded in front of the scarlet distortion of space, fending off the cataclysm for a moment longer.

"Rho Aias!"

An iridescent shield in the shape of a seven-petaled consolida ajacis spread from Toshimi's outstretched hands, and the bounded field of Rho Aias took on the remaining power of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm. While the devastating primordial energy had been weakened, the bounded field still shook under the force of colliding, Enuma Elish breaking through three of its layers in one moment and two in the next, and another- until finally the last petal cracked and crumbled under the wave of red death.

However, the shield of flowers had done its job. The majority of its force had been pushed upward, seeming to split the very Heavens as Toshimi was blasted down to earth with such force that she crashed through a half-destroyed building over a mile away.

"Hm. I see, that sword draws on the energy residing in parallel worlds and focuses them into our own...? It's a shame that it was destroyed, but no matter. It is merely a trinket compared to Ea."

#

Far away from where Gilgamesh looked over the city, Toshimi lay underneath a pile of rubble that used to be a building. When she crash-landed, the entire thing had come down upon her as its remaining foundations crumbled. The rubble didn't seem like it was going to stir, but finally a blood-drenched mangled hand pushed aside a slab of stone. Flickering out like a candle from within the pile of rubble was a green barrier produced by the last bit of runic power her armor could muster before it was reduced to nothing more than cloth. The world-rending might of Ea had not just physically torn her apart but ripped even her runes and enchantments away.

Now, she was barely covered by ragged and torn armor around her torso, right shoulder and biscep. Megingjoro took much of the damage around her waist and legs, but she was still left with nothing more than a pair of skin-tight shredded shorts that revealed lacerated skin and muscle across her body, the allure of her nearly bare figure lost on the brutality of her wounds. It was likely that she didn't have a single inch of her body that was unscathed. Even still, covered in her own blood and swaying as she rose, she stood and climbed out of the rubble with long, weary breaths. She raised a hand towards the sky as if to grasp at something that was not there. Her Azoth Staff, cast aside during the battle, hovered off the ravaged earth beside tombstones of smoldering steel and soared through the air on course to Toshimi.

"Trace... On..."

Toshimi summoned what little energy she could to don her Vulcan Robe once more, and almost immediately she began to feel the effects of its enchantments. The Vulcan Robe's runic enchantments Mannaz, Ingwas, Jera, and Uruz expand the mind, increasing mental efficiency and productivity as well as aiding in mental clarity. Any injuries sustained can be healed over time with C Rank regeneration, and any damage to the robe itself will slowly repair itself as well. Sowilo was the final rune embedded within the robe, which gave Toshimi precise control over natural sources of fire. In her agonizing state she could barely think, much less fight- with the robe her pain was numbed, her mind focused, and she brought out enough strength to inch forward dragging her feet to catch her Azoth Staff.

Despite her almost grotesque appearance, Toshimi never lost the will to fight- her eyes held a fire so strong that one might actually be set aflame by her glare. Soon after pulling herself out of the rubble Toshimi found herself surrounded by a storm of black daggers, needles, and more. A detachment of Assassins waited until her battle with Gilgamesh ended to move against her, but they expected Toshimi to be dead or dying- not standing on two feet in anticipation, much less radiating such ferocity.

Toshimi's staff came alight with the green barrier of Algiz, deflecting the brief shower of weapons with ease. Each Assassin only pushed closer to Toshimi and brought the fight out of long range, fearing her Tracing and powerful Magecraft. They drew daggers, scimitars, short swords and even metal wires stretched between each hand. But it was all meaningless. Toshimi's form resembled a Berserker the way she hammered her Azoth Staff into the Assassins as they surrounded her.

Three Assassins attacked right from the start. The first to attack was also the first be defeated, swiftly struck aside with a neck-breaking crack from the ring of Toshimi's Azoth Staff. The second tried to use his comrade's fall as an opening, sliding behind Toshimi before going for the kill. This failed as the butt of her staff was plunged into his unarmored chest with enough force to break two ribs and tear up a lung. The third finally struck home using the sacrifice of his doppelgangers, stabbing a dagger into her shoulder while grappling with her staff before she could strike. The wound bled like any other but almost failed to register, and the Assassin who dealt it was flung away by the staff.

The other Assassins kept attacking relentlessly, giving their target no room to breathe. Toshimi deftly handled the staff between single and two-handed grips, deflecting an Assassin in front of her and another from the side with an arcing twirl of her staff, taking a shallow slash across her back in the process. In the next moment her staff continued it's arc into the jaw of a female Assassin who approached from the right, shattering her mask and lobbing her unconscious form skyward.

Before another strike could land Toshimi hopped to her left and spun, swiping her staff at the Assassin who grazed her back. His ribs were smashed and he was sent crashing against the ground. At the same time, she kicked out her heel and rammed it into the throat of one of the Assassin's she deflected while taking another grazing wound up her calf. Toshimi landed with shaky footing but did not relent, howling as she raised her staff and charged forward, catching the last three standing Assassins on it's length as the berserk mage tackled them all the ground at once.

For every wound she took she delivered two of her own, thrusting, swiping, and twisting the blunt golden polearm to devastate the shrouded Servants no matter how many times they stood back up. The minute the clash took felt like an hour to Toshimi, but the six living Assassins had been reduced to four, and for a moment they struggled to stand. Toshimi yelled in defiance and slammed her staff upon the ground at the first chance.

"Dagaz* Körperliches Licht!"

Light exploded in every direction, overcoming Toshimi and the Assassins that ambushed her. The fierce light took coporeal form and blasted away each Assassin, sending them flying across the ground into the rubble of nearby buildings. The Master of Assassin that remained hidden throughout the night seemingly gave the order to retreat, and that was the last Toshimi saw of them.

Suddenly, as if she had been watching the destructive battle come to an end, Ruler spoke directly to Toshimi's mind. "You have done well, Master of Lancer. The fact that you survived this long is a victory in itself."

#

Gilgamesh could only stare towards the "rip" in the sky as it sparked with wild blue lightning where Enuma Elish had torn apart the fabric of their false reality- with most of it's force depleted, it ultimately failed to collapse the pocket reality but made it clear that Ea's "Anti-World" classification was to be taken more than literally. It seemed as if the air around the entire wasted city had been sent into a frenzy, powerful gales ravaging what was left of the region as the wounded sky filled its void. Noticing the bright explosion of Toshimi's magecraft from where he stood on his magic carpet, he turned in her direction and spoke with a thoughtful tone as if she could hear him.

"Even still, to think you actually managed to withstand the Sword of Rupture's maximum output and still stand to fight... You exceed my expectations."

Laughing maniacally after practically mumbling to himself, Gilgamesh directly armed himself with two golden longswords, with no engravings or inscriptions. While normal swords would continue straight from the hilt to the tip of the blade, immediately after the hilt was a curved crescent that jutted out of the blade with four protrusions. The hilt was black and the swords each were armed with two long and two short protrusions above the hilt, as well as small spikes at the base of the blade on both sides, and again on the back of the curved tip. Behind him, the light of the Gate of Babylon began to expand rapidly.

"Let us see if you can handle Enki, and the full deployment of the Gate of Babylon! These are the only swords aside from Ea that are truly mine alone!"

Tokiomi, having somehow survived the devastation around him, began speaking to Gilgamesh telepathically similarly to Toshimi and Ruler. "That's enough, Gilgamesh. Avenger has accomplished his mission and almost everyone has retreated. You would be wise to join us before enemy reinforcements arrive."

The prideful King of Heroes shot back immediately with irritation. "Don't presume to advise _me_ on wisdom, _fool_. I shall return, but only for your head!" Growling, the King of Heroes glared momentarily at Toshimi across the city and returned Enki to the Gate as it closed behind him. Gilgamesh turned and began flying away on his carpet with his arms crossed, calling out to Toshimi behind him with all the volume he could muster.

"This is not over, Tohsaka Toshimi! You may have endured today, but the real war has yet to begin! Should we meet tomorrow, you will fall!"

#

Gilgamesh's final taunt did manage to reach his battered foe, but the reaction it provoked was the opposite of his intention. Smirking in the wind as she hobbled along, Toshimi hoped they'd meet tomorrow as well. The arrogant King was going to eat those words if she had any say in the matter. Next time, neither of them would be holding back.

As the curtains closed on the apocalyptic battle Toshimi felt the world sway and twist around her and was consumed by darkness as her knees finally gave out-

-and in the next moment, fell into the steadying arms of Ruler, who now spoke to the weakened Toshimi face to face. "Truly, you have done well this day. Were it not for you and Lancer, we may very well have lost this war come tomorrow." She paused momentarily to let her words sink in before continuing, her tone growing dark. "I'm afraid your survival will not be one we all share. As soon as we are able, we must devise a new plan with the others to accommodate our losses."

Toshimi's eyes narrowed blankly at the bad news, giving up on moving due to the immense pain in favor of propping her forehead against the chest of the radiant Saint. Only her enchanted robe held her consciousness together after everything. "I did well, huh... It feels like my body was shoved through a meat grinder and I have nothing to show for it... I know we lost Berserker, but there were others?"

Taking an unusually long time to reply, Ruler spoke with undisguised unease. "Only one so far... But lives still hang in the balance." Toshimi could barely grind her teeth in frustration, knowing the battle had yet to truly end. She tried to muster what strength she could to stand upright, but Ruler placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.

"You've done more than enough. Leave everything else to the others and rest."

"My body... doesn't seem to be giving me a choice... I suppose I must."

Toshimi sighed softly and relaxed. Within moments she felt her awareness slipping where she stood, and the last thing Toshimi remembered was being laid down to rest somewhere inside the ruins of Homurahara Academy.

#

Staring down at Toshimi as she slept within the barely-intact infirmary, Ruler's eyes seemed to change color. Silver orbs gleamed in the darkness, and an androgynous even-toned voice that was not hers hung in the air. _"Tohsaka Toshimi, the human touched by the Other Side... It is not yet your time to die. You are still... useful to_ us _."_

* * *

The level of power here may seem high, but with no 'region' the entire world decides the power of the spirits, so for this war the game has changed more dramatically than most. This fic is also looking beyond Heroic Spirits and at everything that lies even further beyond, as well. The main reason I am starting at this point in the story is because it is the crossroads of the canon Fate universes and my own. That being said, the power displayed here is something of a benchmark for things to come. The distinction between man, magi, sorcerers, and gods- I hope that everything will be made clear in the future. (I am open to any questions, so please don't hesitate to ask for clarification on anything!)

Regarding Toshimi, she could be thought of as a modern day Heracles or Perseus. She is a true champion of the Gods, enacting their will upon the Earth. Everything regarding Toshimi's past will be explained in Lost Origin, which is almost solely going to be dedicated to her character as well as Mayasviel.

Regarding Gilgamesh, I have a very high opinion of his character and feel he has not been consistently portrayed even in canon. I can only say that this is how I always imagined Gilgamesh and to expect a lot of development for him.

As always, thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6: Tipping the Scales

I apologize for the long wait. With a recent promotion at work and family matters, time has been limited, and I have also been reworking some minor details throughout the past and future of the story. I assure you this story will meet its desired and long-planned end, with more dedicated time in the near future. I'm in this for the long run, and in the grand scheme, this is only a minor setback.

* * *

While nearly everyone else had begun to fight, a regal magus wearing a blue and black robe with an accompanying veil and crown hovered across the ground in a cheap imitation of true flight, still yet to so much as actually set sight upon a foe.

Caster started zooming towards Merlin's battlefield the moment Caliburn was unveiled by Emiya Shirou, even ditching her Master, but she didn't get very far before Merlin himself began to speak to her. The azure witch stopped her chase and changed the perspective of one of her mirrors to look upon Merlin directly with a scowl.

"Caster, I ask that you move north rather than come here. Your presence is simply not required. In fact-"

"You dare-!"

Unbothered by the sudden outburst, Merlin spoke over Caster without hesitation, while she looked outright offended.

"IN FACT, Artoria herself is present there. Be a good girl and go make up with her, will you?"

Caster was a whirlwind of unchecked emotions as Merlin spoke, circling from rage at the assumed insult to a terrifying gleeful grin right back to square one. Practically hissing out the words, Caster hated every part of this interaction and just wanted it to end. Morgan trapped the fool in the Garden of Avalon because she never wanted to have to look at him or hear his voice ever again, now she was forced to endure his insufferable existence once more.

"Truly...? Tell me where she is!"

Merlin chuckled and pointed his staff off-screen. "Please turn to channel four!"

Caster was so done with Melin's antics that she growled and swiped aside his mirror. It simply floated around in a circle around the witch, until coming around the other side. Sure enough, however, on 'channel four', the mirror Merlin pointed to with surprising precision, Artoria Pendragon had already begun fighting their Berserker while she was distracted. As quickly as she bolted after young Shirou, Caster took off with nothing more than the King of Knights in her wide psychotic eyes.

 _Enjoy this battle while you can, foolish little sister. Within the hour I will finally have my vengeance!_

#

As the Holy Grail War approached its climax, Avenger laughed. Everything was going according to plan, and his direct action was not yet required. In fact, the decisive moment of the first day of battle was fast approaching. He could hardly wait for the signal, forced to close his eyes and let his devious plan come to fruition within his mindscape.

As the minutes counted down, Avenger did not miss the earth-shattering noise that told him that it was time to act. Angra Mainyu opened his eyes wide and stared into the distance, stepping forward and mixing in with the shadows. The next time Avenger appeared, he intended to decide the outcome of this battle and all to come.

 _#_

The sounds of city-wide battle echoed even as far as the outskirts of Shinto where the Assassin Emiya Kiritsugu searched for Kotomine Kirei and Lancer after the swift death of Berserker. It had been only minutes since their bloodied retreat, but neither foe could be found.

Maya frowned in thought as she landed and reported in to her Servant regarding the location of the retreating enemy.

"Hm... No sign of them anywhere. Any luck?"

His eyes never stopped scanning his surroundings for a moment, holding a compact submachine gun in his right hand and a combat knife in the other.

"I'm afraid it's just more of the same, Master. Lancer and Kirei will not be found at this rate."

Mayasviel had been hovering well over a hundred meters off the ground during her search, using magecraft to increase the magnification of her eyes to see everything on the ground in clear detail. Having come up with nothing, she had finally rejoined Assassin on the ground alongside Illya.

"I have to agree. Like Ruler said, we shouldn't follow them too far anyway, not with so much to lose."

Kiritsugu nodded while Illya started pouting, but a reassuring grasp of her shoulder from her father was all it took to stabilize her plunging emotions. The silent group extended their senses and searched for the closest group, who was not difficult to find. They were in the midst of combat on the edge of the city, though back on 'their side' of the riverbed.

"Alright, I think we have our target. Just in case..." Kiritsugu telepathically communicated the change in the situation to Ruler before leaving the area behind. "Apologies, Ruler. Lancer and his Master escaped us. From here we will move to the battle north of us until further notice."

A few awkward moments without a response left the trio to their plan, and Mayasviel took to the skies again with Illya.

Since the painfully quick demise of her beloved Berserker, Illya struggled to get her head back on straight. She kept telling herself that once Lancer was dead, she would be alright. But now her revenge would have to wait.

When they came upon Saber's battlefield and saw the catastrophe that had just begun to play out, everything was forgotten. Illya finally recognized her true enemy, Angra Mainyu, the source of all of her misfortunes as well as those of her family.

"I refuse to let it end like this!"

 _#_

Thunder rumbled in the darkened sky as the chariot of Alexander the Great soared above Fuyuki City. Numerous battles began far below while he held fast as the last line of defense, scouring the city with his Master for the remaining Servants that were unaccounted for.

Due to the telepathic link between Ruler and the Masters and Servants, things had progressed as best they could following the defeat of Heracles. Each member communicated everything possible without taking their attention from combat, and Ruler then relayed everything to Rider, a more than accomplished military commander.

Grumbling in silence as his eyes scanned the ground, Rider took all the information gained from his allies and kept a plan in mind at all times. The current situation could be flipped on its head by the action of a single rogue element.

Lancer Alter fled with little strength remaining and likely wouldn't resurface on the battlefield until the next day. Rider knew that the only Servant yet to show themselves was the enemy Caster, with the recent sighting of Berserker Alter.

"There!"

Caster's mad recklessness is what finally led Rider's Master to discover her, catching a momentary blur moving towards one of the ongoing battlefields by using the ability of a Mystic Code known as the Saint's Monocle. Alexander tugged on the reins and guided his Divine Bulls down towards the cityscape of Shinto. The figure stopped long before he reached them, changing directions to a new battlefield.

"Onward! We cannot let Caster interrupt Saber's battle!"

A soft whip of the reins spurred the bulls onward at full speed, leaving a crack of thunder in their wake. Hakuno struggled to keep hold of the chariot as it bolted through the air until within moments the chariot slowed and landed with much more grace than it took off, coming to a rumbling halt in the middle of a wide five-lane street. The young Master stood on shaky legs and took a deep breath, finding their chariot only feet in front of the enemy Servant.

Caster glared in irritated surprise at Rider as he landed in front of her so calmly, but did not yet launch an attack with her prepared staff. As a jubilant smile spread across his face Caster's forehead began to throb with veins of frustration. Even her madness was soon silenced by Rider's sheer, well, stupidity.

"You stand before Iskandar! Kneel and join the army of the King of Conquerors or fall to his blade!"

Caster's anger fizzled out to leave a blank expression. Within moments genuine laughter exploded from the Queen as Rider merely frowned. Caster reigned herself in quickly and managed to regain the calm Merlin disrupted just by existing.

"Surely you can't be serious? No, if I must go through you to reach that usurper then so be it. Two Kings with one stone, as they say."

Rider laughed heartily in response, grinning as he drew his blade. "You can try." Iskandar slammed his left fist into his chest with another short laugh. "Master, hang on tight." While the Servants prepared to face off, the intense battles close by lit the backdrop with flashes of light from a range of colors, striking out into the dark sky for all to see.

Hakuno nodded and clutched the chariot before it blasted off, just in time to dodge a rain of vile black magical energy that came shooting out of Caster's crowned white staff after she managed to dodge the initial burst of Alexander's Divine Bulls. Rider expertly avoided each projectile and flew into the air in an arc around Caster who continued expelling curses towards her foe with increasingly precise aim.

Rider narrowed his eyes in thought.

 _She's already getting used to this speed..._ _Impressive!_

"Master, keep your head down for a while."

Hakuno nodded and crouched low under the chariot's protection. His beating heart seemed to grow louder in his chest as his mind struggled to come up with a way to aid his Servant. Hakuno was finding that his abilities were vastly limited compared to what he was capable of within the Virtual World known as Extella. He held no Regalia, and the Mystic Codes with which he had come to master did not exist outside of the Moon Cell.

"... Wait."

Hakuno remembered spotting Caster with the Saint's Monocle. However, he never recalled putting the damned thing on. The stupefied magus had absolutely no idea what was going on until he idly stroked where the eyepiece should have rested upon his face, only for a strange magical tingle to grace his fingertips.

Hakuno Kishinami no longer possessed a living body. Merely an NPC that gained awareness, he must have been given a body capable of using the abilities he possessed within the Moon Cell. That had no logical explanation- and that left only the Holy Grail.

Swallowing the saliva that started to build up from his nerves, Hakuno looked up at Rider as he lashed the reigns and struck aside the bullet-like curses flooding out from Caster's staff using his sword.

Taking a deep breath, Hakuno closed his eyes and focused on an image of himself in his mind, clad in regal white and gold robes with a flowing gold-trimmed mantle. He let his magical energy flow across his body in line with the image and felt it solidify around him. It was then that he confirmed his answer; The Holy Grail prepared a body capable of giving form to the knowledge that Hakuno possessed.

On further thought, maybe it was somehow linked directly to the Moon Cell itself. He couldn't help but remember that Sefar had managed to create a living "avatar" to attack Earth with at the same time she invaded the Moon.

Hakuno released his breath and opened his eyes, looking across his outfit to find that his bland school uniform had begun to glow with golden magical energy. Finally, Rider turned his head and noticed the circumstances of his Master, gaping for a moment at the suddenly glimmering outfit before his attention was forced back to the battle.

"If you have any way to fight, now's the time to use it! Even Saber won't hold out if we let Caster through."

Hakuno stared blankly at himself for a moment before he seemed to wake up, mentally preparing himself for battle.

While Rider flew around drawing the aim of Caster's curses, she steadily caught up to his still-increasing speed. The hail of curses finally came pouring out of Caster's staff in a wave of darkness, threatening to envelop the entire chariot.

The pair grit their teeth for a moment as the electrified divine bulls stampeded through the air, and Hakuno waved his left hand while focusing his magical energy.

If he could learn the best way to utilize this body, he may yet find himself useful in battle. To aid the magic and his imagination, he used a spontaneous incantation based on what little magical hacking he could remember to test his theory.

"Access Moon Cell, Extella 01 HAKUNO Artifact Storage. Generate Item Rank EX: Defender's Great Shield!"

Using the simple swipe as a catalyst, a "void" opened up where his hand cut through the air, and from within, a massive shield floated out and the void closed behind it.

Rider smirked and dropped the reigns, taking hold of the shield just before the dark magic impacted his chariot. As if it sensed the oncoming attack, a magical barrier extended outward from the shield, protecting even the bulls as they simply plowed through the wave of curses.

"What!?"

Caster glared as she failed to recognize the magic being used. She supposed that modern magecraft had come leaps and bounds since her death, but something told her there was more going on than that. However, Caster knew now that she could not underestimate them.

" _Guardians of the Forest heed my call."_

" _I am a fairy of the Lake._ "

" _I am the true heir of Uther."_

" _By our bond as spirits I summon thee, Messenger of the Isle!"_

Caster landed upon the earth and drove her staff into the dirt with both hands. White roots expanded from the base of the staff and quickly twisted around each other until taking shape as a large, majestic white deer with thick branching antlers. The white doe pulled a small circular chariot that fit two standing persons, regally decorated but lacking in real defenses.

Caster did not care about that however, since her own magical protections were quite extraordinary. She quickly stepped onto the chariot and spurred the white deer onward into the sky. The 'decoy' chariots of Rider were destroyed instantly when met by Caster's curses, but Caster found herself on a collision course with a grinning Rider.

Waving her staff, she cast a tidal surge of curses aimed for Rider's Divine Bulls, while she swerved to the side and directed the deer with the reins one-handed. Expertly, Caster rolled her chariot upside down without losing her footing, so even as Rider narrowly dodged her curses by diving, the witch was able to position herself directly above Rider in an instant. Rider was left seemingly vulnerable as his master was blasted along with him as more curses poured out from the white staff.

Hakuno's Defender's Great Shield deployed a defensive barrier just before impact, but Rider's chariot lost control from the resulting explosion and crash landed upon the street. In the moment his bulls needed to regain balance, Caster began making her way to the increasingly heated battle between Saber and Berserker Alter.

"Not good...!"

Rider took to the sky as quickly as he could, chasing after the witch with a bellowing battle cry. The thunder of his bulls rumbled into the distance as a group of skull-masked figures darted through the shadows in pursuit, unseen even to the Saint's Monocle as it was set back to observing the ground.

Ig-Alima, the enormous skyscraper-sized Mountain Felling Sword, suddenly appeared in the sky barely a mile away from Caster and Rider, almost directly in their path to Saber. Caster paid it no mind other than to take a detour around it, but Hakuno set his eyes upon the battle below, every detail being translated by the Saint's Monocle.

"Rider, I found the target of that behemoth. It's Toshimi, but... She's more than I expected even after what she told us. I don't think her father was bluffing. At all."

Rider tilted his head while his eyes remained on Caster. She seemed to be preparing a spell.

"What do you see down there?"

"She's flying on winged sandals wielding... a Holy Sword."

" _Hermes' Sandals!?_ "

A brilliant flash of light turned Rider's head and its expansion into a massive sword named the Holy Sword for him before it fell and bisected Ig-Alima. Rider couldn't help but blink in astonishment.

"Excalibur... Is that girl even human? Hold on, incoming!"

Caster waved her staff in a dark circle and thrust into the center, unleashing a solid wave of darkness that seemed to focus its aim based on the center dot of Caster's circle. While Rider grit his teeth and guided his divine bulls out of the way for almost half a minute, lighting struck unrelated to Rider and the bulls of Zeus.

Rider could not take his eyes off of Caster and her curses, but Hakuno saw everything that occurred between Toshimi and Gilgamesh. However, it was all he could do to hold on while Rider evaded Caster's curses, he could not explain much to Rider during the intense flight. Hakuno waited until the curses stopped to reveal his discovery.

"Rider... That question may be less of a joke than you intended, if for no other reason than that massive bolt of lightning was produced by _Mjolnir_. This monocle shows me many things, but most striking is that Toshimi's 'energy' or maybe better described as 'aura' is not much different than Gilgamesh's, or even your own."

Toshimi was almost seeming to play around with Gilgamesh, but Rider knew that the ancient king was not taking her seriously either. As Caster failed in her attack, it left a razed background in the path it made to strike Rider, leveling buildings as her magic seemed to melt through them like butter. Rider had been gaining on Caster despite the interference, but could not yet counterattack as he closed the distance.

"Do you mean...?"

"You and Gilgamesh are not ordinary at all. That means neither is she. If you ask me seriously, I believe she has managed to obtain some form of Divinity, however faint."

Alexander the Great narrowed his eyes halfway into a glare at Caster, suddenly bringing his chariot to a halt in the air.

"Toshimi is an enigma. She should not be able to exist within the Age of Men... Leave her be for now, Master. I just received a message, Saber is already in good hands, it seems. You didn't see Lancer down there with her, did you? More importantly... Someone else is in immediate danger that needs our help."

Rider pulled the reins and directed his Divine Bulls towards young Shirou, only hoping that he made it in time.

#

Emiya Shirou parried a flurry of attacks from Mordred as they fought each other head-on. They seemed to match each other stroke for stroke, but it soon became clear that Mordred's skill and experience was a tough wall to break down. Still, the 'memories' hidden within Caliburn allowed Shirou to counterattack, the golden sword being thrust for Mordred's heart, forcing her to take a leap backward.

Shirou's breaths became more ragged with each exchange, and he felt the muscles in his sword arm twitch after each strike. He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up, and he quickly realized that he'd bitten off far too much to chew by engaging a Saber in a prolonged swordfight.

Archer watched nervously as Mordred and Shirou battled, her worries as clear upon her face as the awe she felt, watching a mere human contend, if somewhat unsuccessfully, with a Servant in their strongest field.

Merlin's amusement was obvious, watching the engagement as if it was a popular TV show. In Merlin's eyes, it actually came pretty close. Still, he never doubted the outcome. He almost seemed too sure, if anything.

During a prolonged clash of their swords, Shirou's arm finally spasmed at the wrong time and he was sent flying backward, crashing into the ground while Caliburn shattered. Shirou slowly began to lose consciousness from the impact, coupled with overexertion of his magic circuits. Saber was unrelenting, dashing in pursuit to stand above the collapsed young man who dared oppose her, raising Clarent to his throat.

"So weak! You would need a lifetime to even stand a chance against me!"

Archer's panicked call to her Master hadn't even left her lips before she fired a storm of arrows with extreme speed and precision, coming in bursts of threes, fours and fives with fluid precision. Mordred scowled and turned to face the arrow barrage with a furious blade, slashing apart the arrows while others bounced off her armor during an acrobatic spinning leap. A few arrows pierced through however; one in her left shoulder, one in her right thigh, and another narrowly avoided piercing her left hand, leaving a gash in the back of her hand and gauntlet.

Mordred glared at Archer as she was forced to retreat and meet up with Merlin, who quickly administered treatment after removing the arrows. Merlin was more than proficient enough with healing magic that he did not require an incantation for the basics.

Archer was at Shirou's side the instant Mordred left.

"Master! Please tell me you're okay..."

Archer's eyes swiftly examined his entire body and magical signature, cursing herself for letting him fight like that at all now. Hippolyta ripped the Banner away from Shirou, swiftly wrapping it around her waist.

"You should have been able to handle that divine magic for longer still... How much energy did the activation of Caliburn bring out?"

Shirou could hardly respond as he held on to his awareness, trying to overcome the backlash with willpower alone.

Thunder roared above the distressed Archer, as Alexander the Great came crashing down in his bull-driven chariot sparing a hard, long gaze at Shirou's condition before focusing on Mordred and Merlin. Rider gestured for his Master to stay on the chariot, while he stepped off and raised his sword into the air, drawing a bolt of lightning that struck in an arc through the air, slashing down with Rider's sword.

"Come, Bucephalus!"

A horse neighed gallantly, the sound echoing as loud as thunder before the black horse strode out of the space where Rider slashed. Rider slid atop his saddle and stroked his mane.

"Let's go, partner!"

Bucephalus neighed again and charged straight at Mordred while Alexander let loose his battle cry.

Taking a deep breath, Hippolyta nodded and readied her bow, cursing Mordred with a vengeful glare.

"I'll cover you, Rider!"

A burst of arrows came over his shoulder that forced Mordred to move or get pinned by subsequent arrows, which also then kept Saber on the move against the horse-bound Rider, leaving a clear advantage in the King of Conqueror's favor.

Rider smiled as he guided Bucephalus to pursue Saber, quickly coming up on her left side between volleys of arrows to swing his sword down to meet Clarent head-on, clashing between Mordred's burst of red lightning and Iskandar's own blue lightning.

Rider had enough time to strike back immediately after their clash with a strong backswing, pushing a scowling Saber back a step and into Archer's line of fire. At the same time, Rider broke off and let the arrows pin down Saber's movements before striking again.

Merlin watched with odd pleasure as the cycle repeated, but knew that he would soon arrive at the moment he was waiting for.

 _If everything went according to plan, which it will, then-_

Merlin finished his thought with a smirk and remained silent and observant, knowing he would not have to even lift another finger to decide this battle.

As Rider shouted another war cry, he noticed that the arrows supporting him halted, but did not relent against Saber. Without Archer's arrows of support, Rider directed Bucephalus expertly, fighting on equal footing with Saber's own surprising speed, and pressuring Mordred by meeting her monstrously strong blows with strength equal to her own. The King of Conquerors maneuvered his trusty steed to the openings Saber left behind in her evaded counterattacks, leaving her struggling to break the stalemate.

Meanwhile, Archer's support was stopped forcefully and suddenly as a group of 9 Assassins appeared swiftly and silently, surrounding Hakuno and the chariot, as well as Archer and the collapsed Shirou.

The opening salvo of the Assassins was weathered barely as Archer was able to shoot three arrows that met the thrown weapons of the Assassins, while Hakuno braved imminent death and took the reins of the Divine Bulls, who charged wreathed in lightning, spinning around the surrounded Hippolyta and Shirou to deflect all but one dagger, one that sank into the back of Archer's left calf.

Hakuno himself couldn't handle the maneuver and was ejected from the chariot and hit the ground with a bounce. He refused to stay down and stood shakily while breathing hard, but was still in the fight.

Gordius Wheel charged off towards Rider to help press the attack against Saber after she dealt a skillful blow to Rider's left arm, making it harder to direct Bucephalus and thus giving Mordred the temporary advantage, at least until she was trampled by Gordius Wheel while distrated by Rider himself.

Archer's eyes narrowed as she nocked four arrows, and let them loose at two nearby Assassins. They were avoided with surprising ease as all of the Assassins rushed in with their focus on Archer.

"- Rank EX: Aurora Spirit Stone!"

However, they were not expecting Hakuno to be a threat to their attack. A strange green orb appeared above Archer and Shirou, and then exploded into green magical energy that surrounded them and separated them from the Assassins. Then, the barrier seemed to flash and produce lightning that arced towards anything close, namely the Assassins.

Each bolt packed a punch and sent the surprised Assassins crashing into the ground meters away from the impact, but each Assassin stood and faced Hakuno directly relatively unharmed, radiating killing intent. After a short internal deliberation, 3 Assassins surrounded the barrier and tested the range of its defenses with thrown weapons while the other 6 changed targets to Hakuno.

Archer's initial relief from the barrier was shattered when the Assassins split off toward the injured mage, knowing she could not provide any cover fire. Still, Hakuno stood with a confident grin, and his lips never stopped moving as he chanted away.

"Access Moon Cell, Extella 01 HAKUNO Artifact Storage. Generate Item Rank EX: Cohorts Banner-"

A green and gold banner featuring the Earth and an eclipsing Moon Cell appeared in Hakuno's hand, and as it did he swiftly continued his incantation in order to activate a skill that he hoped remained within the banner.

"-Change: Archer!"

Two of the six Assassins that had closed the distance to Hakuno barely had time to be surprised before their heads were skewered by an arrow each, while a third took one to the shoulder that packed as much punch as a bullet, not that the Assassin had seemed to feel it. He made an attempted strike with his good arm, but Archer smacked it aside with her bow and shattered his mask and face beyond with a solid punch.

The other three pushed on and surrounded Archer before she could fire any more arrows, so she simply tossed to bow towards one of the Assassins to unbalance him and charged him with a sharp elbow to the throat, and he collapsed as he clutched his throat, slowly losing consciousness.

The other two broke off immediately and retreated into the darkness, and Archer looked around for the three by the barrier, and they had fled as well. She'd have to keep up her guard in case they returned, but she had a gut feeling they were done for the night. Hakuno seemed to agree as the barrier died down and faded away, allowing Archer to regroup with him.

Rider's battle had come to a halt as well, each having been wounded by the other. Rider's left arm still bled from a long gash between his elbow and shoulder, and Saber had been beaten to hell twice over and catapulted from behind when Gordius Wheel slammed into her. Knowing Archer was again able to provide cover for Rider, Saber went on the defensive, displeasure evident upon her face.

Merlin, however, suddenly called out to Saber with telepathy. _The need to fight is over. It is time_ _that we retreat and regroup._

Mordred fumed and suppressed a growl before leaping to Merlin's side, while Rider stopped his attack and kept a wary eye on the pair. Saber's helmet pieces separated from her armor and reformed, as Merlin bid farewell to Rider and Archer, as well as Hakuno and Shirou.

"That was a magnificent performance from you all, I am glad to see that young mages these days are so exceptional. Your Servants are lucky to have you... I bid you farewell, and good fortune in the war to come."

Just like that Merlin vanished as the air around his body rippled and warped around him, and then there was silence. Rider and Bucephalus trotted over to the others while a tight line formed on his lips as he seemed in thought.

"Merlin, eh... Quite the interesting man."

None offered a reply, but they seemed in a silent agreement. For all his power, he barely made any moves in this battle. Even Rider couldn't determine his intentions.

"We should return to the school. I've received some grim news, and we should report to Ruler in detail about what's happened here. ...It may be a bit tight, but you should get on too."

Hakuno nodded and climbed aboard the chariot, and Rider gestured for Archer to follow. Archer gave one look at her unconscious Master before carrying him onto Rider's chariot. Iskandar lightly whipped the reins and his Divine Bulls charged into the sky, worrying about the fate of his other allies now that the city had begun to quiet down.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the chapter despite the wait. There are only 2 chapters left until the first day ends, but this next chapter will be the last major battle of the night, so stay tuned! Chapters should be released more consistently moving forward.


	8. Chapter 7: Death to Honor

A familiar duo of women scouted a deserted street in central Fuyuki, combing the area for enemy activity. Artoria Pendragon and Irisviel von Einzbern were already well acquainted, and exchanged friendly banter while Saber filled her in on the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

"I'm ashamed to admit that my desire for the Holy Grail blinded me to the reality of its nature... I hated Kiritsugu in that moment, when he ordered me to destroy it."

Irisviel smiled softly and silently eyed Saber with a sympathetic gaze.

"It was not until I met Shirou that I realized the truth and forgave Kiritsugu, but my hesitation nearly got Shirou killed as well... "

Unfortunately, most of the story was grim, and the sad expression Saber wore as she talked about the final moments of the war didn't fade even after the conclusion. Instead, her lips curved further and her brow furrowed, then she proceeded to detail the following War as well.

"The Fifth Holy Grail War was total chaos even before I was summoned. Shirou's heart was destroyed by Lancer and then a new heart was created by his savior, only to almost be killed by Lancer again in the same night... until he accidently summoned me in your shed."

Irisviel blinked as if her mind was rebooting, unable to process that Shirou had apparently been resurrected, as well as Saber's summoning itself.

"Huh...? Oh! Was he in possession of your sheath?"

Artoria sighed sadly, but couldn't help but smile as the memories of the War flashed in her mind.

"He was, thanks to Kiritsugu. It kept him, a novice spellcaster who could only use Reinforcement Magecraft, alive through many brutal battles. Not to say he was without help. Even his survival after Lancer's first attack had nothing to do with the sheath."

Irisviel's eyes opened wide and seemed to twinkle like a starry sky, her women's intuition kicking into high gear.

"It was Rin-chan, wasn't it?"

Artoria chuckled and nodded.

"Indeed, her assistance was vital to a great deal of Shirou's successes in the war. Illyasviel as well..."

Saber had only just begun to tell the tale of Shirou and the Fifth Holy Grail War when a sense of impending death washed over her, and she quickly turned to face the source along with her Master.

Stepping out from a side street, Berserker Alter stood at the upcoming intersection and stared his newfound foe down, as if he could see nor hear anything else. His Master remained in hiding somewhere on the street corner as the behemoth of a man cracked the asphalt under his feet with each step.

Saber's gaze sharpened and fell upon the muscle-bearing warrior as she raised her invisible sword, and Irisviel quickly stood behind her while creating a trio of doves made from magical thread that flew in slow circles above them, searching out Berserker Alter's Master.

Berserker Alter howled and swiped randomly with his spear, ripping a rusted signpost from the ground and sending it flying with a wild spin into the buildings on the opposite side of the street. The building struck began to collapse slowly as it's weakened supports all gave out in a domino effect.

"##########!"

As the building collapsed, Berserker Alter began his charge, his mad howl ceasing after he grew closer and braced his shield arm for impact.

"Stay here, Irisviel."

Iri nodded silently and began to slowly step back, while Saber dashed to meet Berserker Alter head on. As the last few meters closed, time seemed to slow in anticipation. Berserker's shield charge never faltered against Saber with her invisible Excalibur at her side and ready to strike. Suddenly, from behind the golden shield came the point of his massive golden spearhead.

Artoria struck aside the spearhead and strafed to avoid a powerful shield bash, countering with a stab from Invisible Air that Berserker Alter interrupted with a sweeping arc from his spear, forcing Saber to duck backwards and under the spear's shaft. She took only a moment to recover her footing before pushing off the ground again to leap towards Berserker Alter.

The spartan warrior raised his large golden shield to intercept Saber's leaping slash, quickly following up with a thrust of his spear, which was knocked aside by a rebounding uppercut slash from her blocked downward slash. Saber tried to push in close once again, but Berserker leapt backwards with a spinning arc of his spear, shaking the ground as he landed.

Artoria was forced to block the spear and push it aside, before finally deciding it was time to take the battle more seriously. She took a short breath and refocused before rushing forward to meet Berserker Alter in a charge of his own.

This time Berserker Alter thrust his lance to lead the attack, using it to the fullest extent of its length. The initial thrust was blocked by a surprised Saber, and Berserker followed up with a series of faster jabs, each carrying power enough to keep Artoria on her toes. Each thrust was parried or struck aside, until after several defensive clashes Saber struck the spear and knocked it high above Berserker's head along with the arm still firmly grasping it.

Using the opening, she intended to deal a crippling blow upon Berserker, but he recovered quickly and swung his spear down like a hammer. Saber was surprised and managed to sidestep only just before the thick spearhead would have slammed into her, relentlessly pushing the opening still left behind and speaking the words that would unleash the power surrounding the sword in her hands.

"Strike Air!"

Saber reacted with the force and speed of a hurricane, kicking off the ground with the release of Invisible Air and bringing the mighty spartan's charge to a halt- or so Saber believed. For a moment it did indeed falter, but then the shield began to glow, and suddenly the full force of Invisible Air shattered like glass. And then, the glowing shield was thrust with all of Berserker's strength.

Saber managed to brace her stance and meet Berserker Alter's shield with a revealed Excalibur in a ringing clash, gritting her teeth in an effort to withstand it, only to be thrown backwards and a couple meters into the air. Knowing she would be vulnerable in the air, Saber was forced to resort to utilizing a small portion of Excalibur's power, and spun midair to create a diagonal slash that was magnified and released as a golden crescent-shaped sliver of magical energy towards Berserker Alter.

The small burst from Excalibur was successful in nothing but slowing him down for a moment and provoke a rumbling growl, hardly long enough to land before they were face to face once again. Any minor injuries she may have sustained from the previous clash were being healed by Irisviel from afar, whose sentries had yet to discover the enemy Master.

Saber feinted a left strafe before a quick fake out, bolting right as soon as Berserker Alter's arm thrust forward, arcing her body to dodge the shield bash that followed, while using the same momentum to slash through the opening left behind. Instead of finding the flesh of his shield arm, Berserker Alter had shifted his position during his shield bash using a swift slide-step with his left foot that allowed his missed spear thrust to transition into an arcing backhanded swing, resulting in another clash between Saber and the spartan.

Luckily, Berserker Alter's effort to intercept Saber had also thrown off his balance, which was not an opening Saber would pass up. She charged Excalibur with magical energy and managed to push Berserker Alter's spear away, quickly positioning her Holy Sword for a glowing thrust, met yet again, barely, by the spartan shield.

Unable to guard on imbalanced footing, Berserker Alter was pushed back by the golden flash, until his shield began to shine once again, holding the controlled force of Excalibur at bay long enough to get a solid foot down, after which the glow increased exponentially and fully endured Saber's attack.

"... I see."

There were a few Spartans that could end up as lower ranked heroic spirits, but of them all there was one name that was simply unforgettable. Leonidas I, King of Sparta. Multiple times that shield held with the strength of more than one person- even this Berserker-Class Heroic Spirit, more than ten or likely even a hundred. Every strike he blocked was backed by the strength of his 300, as if the shield itself were a phalanx comprised of them all.

Saber momentarily feared the same strength from his spear, waiting to be unveiled. In only moments, her insanely honed instinct would show itself, and if anyone could see Artoria's thoughts, they might find themselves wondering if she could genuinely see the future.

"I'm honored to have faced you in battle o' King of Sparta, even under these vile circumstances."

The berserk Leonidas could only growl in response, gritting his teeth as his muscles flexed and his charge began anew.

From above their heads, a glowing red laser of magical energy interrupted the battle, fired by one of Irisviel's doves, cleanly piercing through a wall beside a window where it had probably spotted movement from Berserker Alter's Master. All of the doves sped through the air to survey and pursue anything that moved.

Berserker Alter either did not notice, care, or have the capacity for any reaction besides blind rage. He howled and charged back at Saber as if nothing happened, leaving his Master to fend off the doves as they spotted movement between buildings, firing off lasers through the night sky every few seconds.

The female exorcist of the Holy Church evaded the lasers of the doves tracking her with graceful, fluid movements, and again the doves lost sight of her as she ducked into another building.

Berserker Alter thrust his spear forward as he approached Saber, and suddenly the golden spear began to glow a sinister crimson energy. The speed with which Leonidas activated his spear made it impossible for even Saber to dodge, and so she was forced to guard against the glowing spearhead using Excalibur which began to glow just as intensely, and still rising.

The glowing weapons clashed and released an explosion of gold and crimson light, lasting only a moment. In the next, Saber was blown backwards and sent crashing into the ground before bouncing high in the air. A few drops of blood splattering on the asphalt began to reveal the power behind the thrust spear of Leonidas, if the rising arc of Saber's body was not a further indication, then when she finally hit the ground with a metalic thunk without moving there could be no question.

Irisviel immediately began her using her healing magecraft, but she could not administer treatment quickly enough, due to another charge from the mad Berserker Alter. With a roar he leapt at Irisviel and drew back his spear for another thrust, one that would surely end her life as she was skewered upon the spear.

Before the crimson-clad golden spearhead could reach her however, a battered Artoria had risen to her feet and shoulder tackled her Master out of the way, meeting Leonidas with Excalbur as its golden glow roared back to life.

Moments later, Irisviel finished applying her healing and the blood streaking across Saber's face vanished and her wounds closed.

Excalibur met Berserker Alter's spear once again, striking downward and driving the golden spearhead into the ground. In the next moment Saber moved like a flash of golden lightning, her sword flaring with magical energy, driving her Holy Sword upwards along the shaft of the spear to keep it pinned.

Berserker Alter was unable to fully guard the attack with his shield with his spear in the way, and thus his spear arm was dealt a grievous blow, a gaping gash along the back of his hand that extended up his forearm and bicep. His wound was thick with blood and chunks of flesh had burned away. Still his arm held the golden spear, though its subsequent strikes became far too linear and weak to pose a genuine threat. King Arthur needed only concern herself with breaking through his seemingly impenetrable shield.

Berserker Alter at first took his wound in stride, but as he prepared for the next charge his elevated rage showed itself in the form of a long, ear-rending roar.

"####################-!"

The battle cry ended abruptly as his Master leapt from the shadows of a building to stand behind him, her crimson red cloth swirling in the air and beginning to wrap itself around the raging warrior's arm. As the shroud bound him, Berserker Alter's shaking fury was stilled, and his body stiffened as his Master commanded him.

"We must retreat immediately."

"Wha..."

Saber was surprised at the sudden intrusion, noting how Berserker Alter was instantly incapacitated by that mysterious cloth. However, she left the situation at that as the cloth began to unwind and allow Berserker Alter to move again. Artoria had not exactly been known for her mercy unless it proved dishonorable not to show it, but today was a day in which she did not have a shred to give either way.

"EX-"

King Arthur's Holy Sword lit up with its full might as she raised Excalibur above her head with a resolved glare, golden orbs of light rising all around the area. Caren Hortensia was left without even enough time to scowl before supplying another order while keeping a surprising degree of calm.

"Do it, Berserker."

"###!"

"-CALIBUR!"

As Excalibur came down upon them Leonidas raised his glowing shield, and as light came crashing down, those present saw a phantom image of King Leonidas' final stand at the heart of his phalanx, large enough to fill the street easily, each soldier seeming to stand with him against the overwhelming radiance of Excalibur.

For a moment it was a magnificent spectacle for both sides, and then in an instant Berserker's light fizzled out as his shield split cleanly in half, and his eyes widened in the face of his demise. As the light of Excalibur fell uncontested, there was a fleeting roar and a feminine scream- and in the next moment the light began to fade, and all that remained was silence.

#

Avenger slowly approached the battle he had been eyeing for the majority of the opening clash against the servants of Alaya, keeping his presence hidden until the vital moment. Despite the seemingly even causalities on each side, his plan had progressed rather smoothly, and it would have worked perfect if not for a single factor.

Rider Alter and The Shadow were meant to be key players in the first night, and he had hoped that Dark Sakura might create new allies, if not simply kill their enemies. Instead, both were taken out swiftly with ease that could only come from experience, of which Servant Shirou had plenty regarding those two.

Fortunately they survived, and rather unfortunately, The Shadow pursued Avenger himself as he ventured towards Saber and Berserker's battlefield, possibly hoping to absorb his Lesser Holy Grail in order to heal itself.

Thus, he was forced to stop his advance and turn back to face an unforeseen enemy. Precious seconds were wasted by the dozens before Dark Sakura caught up, her deformed and wounded body flickering as if she may fade from existence at any moment.

Avenger knew The Shadow had been beaten into a retreat, but the sight before him was amusingly pitiful.

"You poor thing... The fragments of the Holy Grail inside you are the only things keeping you alive even in such a state... Maybe due to our close spiritual connection at present."

The Shadow screeched with a wretched voice, and a field of darkness expanded along the ground out of which tendrils of darkness began to rise, striking towards Avenger swiftly while he stood calmly without so much as stepping aside. As the tendrils of darkness bound him by arm, leg, and soon the rest of his body, Dark Sakura tried to corrupt and consume Avenger.

However, Avenger's own darkness flared and began to cover the tendrils binding him, turning them as dark a shade of black that could ever exist. Feeling this primordial darkness flowing into her own, Dark Sakura began to feel genuine fear and attempted to release her hold on Angra Mainyu, only for her tendrils to resist her commands. The Darkness continued to spread, inching along the tendrils and approaching The Shadow herself.

"It must be so excruciating... _Let me ease your pain_!"

Avenger overwhelmed the Shadow almost instantly as his curses flared even further, his darkness consuming hers and growing more powerful until only she remained, and a tidal surge of his curses flowed over her from the tendrils linked between them, and The Shadow dissolved into mud, returning to Avenger for his own taking. With the consumption of Sakura Avenger gained her Command Spells and authority over Rider, as well as a large boost in mana due to the fusion of the two fragmented Holy Grails each possessed within them.

Angra Mainyu couldn't help but laugh, though he knew that time was even more precious now that his presence had likely been sensed. A mad grin remained on his visage while he rushed towards Saber, who had defeated Berserker while he was distracted with The Shadow.

"I can still make it...!"

#

Caster soared through the sky on her chariot, arriving within sight of Saber as Excalibur fell upon Berserker Alter and his Master. While she was still hidden and Saber was left to a brief reprieve, Morgan le Fay began chanting a powerful spell while making a slow descent.

" _Guardians of the Forest heed my call_."

" _I am a Fairy of the Lake."_

" _I am the true heir of Uther."_

" _Plant a seed from which a new forest shall grow."_

" _From this seed magic will spread its roots,"_

" _And the will of Spirits shall reign again."_

#

Saber took a breath of relief as Irisviel administered thorough treatment to the wounds sustained from her battle with the mad King Leonidas, but still wary of enemies after having felt a surge of Angra Mainyu's curses nearby. Irisviel's doves still circled above, and had yet to detect anything coming close- at least, nothing on the ground.

The first to notice the enemy was Saber herself, sensing the accumulating magical energy being manipulated by Caster above them. However, even though she could detect the spell's activation, she had no idea what was going to happen as Morgan was recognized by Artoria on sight.

The first effect of the spell was a crack in the earth several meters away from where Saber and Irisviel stood. From the crack a thin sprout emerged wreathed in light, and then exploded into growth. Roots pierced out of the ground pursuing Saber like spears, forcing her to roughly grab Irisviel by the waist and leap to safety. At the same time, Caster targeted Irisviel's magical birds and destroyed them with her curses.

After several dozen meters, numerous trees began to sprout in every direction around the central, much larger tree, and even more roots began to invade the earth and grow, eventually emerging to strike at Saber as she was kept moving without a chance to rest, barely managing to cut down the roots and retreat as they increased in number.

No matter how much Saber ran she was unable to escape and the forest's expansion quickly overtook them, leaving Saber and Irisviel boxed in by the forest and swarmed by its roots.

Saber's struggle finally came to an end as 5 shrouded figures appeared in the path of her retreat, and it became clear that Artoria had been led into an ambush. Saber released Irisviel and the golden light of Excalibur spread light among the dimly-lit forest, flashing rapidly in every direction to suppress the cage of roots that caught up and surrounded them.

With the additional onslaught from the Assassin's hurling thrown weapons, even Saber was brought to heel as poisoned needles and daggers pierced her in several places. After that, Morgan's roots twisted around Saber's arms and legs binding her and squeezing hard enough to cause even King Arthur to scream. Though her grip on Excalibur seemed only to tighten. Irisviel was in a similar situation, but was quickly rendered unconscious by the force.

A mad, yet strikingly alluring chuckle brought Saber's wincing gaze to Caster as she floated in front of Saber on her small chariot, and Morgan's expression couldn't possibly have looked more insane as she derived pleasure from the mere sight of her sister being reduced to a prisoner within her grasp.

"I have waited... so _long_ for this day!"

Saber struggled to speak due to the pressure around her chest and throat.

"You... Never change..."

Caster's maddened amusement sharpened into an icy glare, her smile sharp as the blade that was now placed at Irisviel's throat by an Assassin.

"If you do anything that so much as suggests resistance-"

The Assassin pressed the dagger against Irisviel's skin just enough that it did not cut, letting the blade glide down her neck and roam across her body as if saying she was a fresh canvas in which the blade was Assassin's brush.

"-your Master will only _wish_ that she was dead."

Saber glared through grit teeth as her eyes flickered to Irisviel and back to her captor.

"...Fine. What do you want, Morgan? Killing me means nothing now, your obsession with usurping the throne is long dead-"

Assassin's blade drew blood along Irisviel's arm, jolting her awake with a yelp of pain. After the initial shock Irisviel realized the situation and silently glared at Caster in silence, as the azure magus ordered Saber with a disturbingly sweet voice.

"...Release your sword, Artoria."

The roots binding Saber tightened again, and at the same time, the roots binding Irisviel began to pull at her arms, and with a sickening pop and Irisviel's pained scream told Saber that her master's shoulders had both been dislocated before a chance to drop Excalibur was even given. The Holy Sword fell from Saber's grasp immediately, losing its light and sliding blade first into the soft forest floor.

" _Stop..._ _Morgan!"_

Between pained breaths Saber forced herself to speak, her pleas only causing more pain, but she did not care. All that mattered was keeping her Master safe. Artoria glared through half-closed eyelids, barely getting enough air and blood to sustain consciousness.

Caster's icy visage regained a shade of warmth as she basked in the expression Saber made, begging at her feet as she and her Master were tortured.

" _There it is!_ This is what I wanted to see, that _wonderful_ expression!"

"You... are insane...!"

Morgan let out a single amused chuckle before grabbing Artoria by her hair and yanking her face to look straight up at her with a poisonous smile.

"I have no desire to be judged by your standards. You no longer have permission to speak. Every word... No, every sound you utter will be a blade in your Master."

Saber's eyes widened before sharpening into an intimidating glare despite her crushed body, but not so much as a pained grunt came out of her mouth.

"Good girl. If only Merlin could see you now, his favorite _pet_."

This thought actually caused Caster to pause and release Saber's hair, her mind turning speculative.

"Actually, I wonder if he's already seen what will happen, since he saw your life until death... I can tell that you aren't like other Servants. Are you... still alive, somehow? That would make sense, Avenger seemed to be under the impression you could not revert to Spirit Form to conserve mana for some reason..."

Morgan giggled like a schoolgirl, but her thoughts were nothing even close to pure.

"That will make this even more enjoyable!"

Before Caster could begin the true torture of Artoria, a loud 'thunk' drew her attention to the ground amid her sinister laughter. Rolling at her feet was the head of Assassin, his white mask laughing back in her face as the decapitated head began to dissolve into particles of magical energy.

Caster froze for a moment as she realized everything had fallen to pieces in a single moment. However, she recovered quickly and attempted to manipulate the roots binding Saber in an attempt to crush her to death. However, the roots did not obey her command, and a moment later they were slashed apart by a blurred streak of crimson. After a sharp inhalation of breath while falling to the ground, Saber quickly grabbed Excalibur and held the blade at her side, ready to strike.

With a furious glare Morgan looked around for the source of the disturbance, and found that it was the purple-clad Lancer that had previously been facing off against Gilgamesh who'd arrived, and was now glaring sharply in return. Scathach stood beside Irisviel as she knelt in the grass, struggling to push herself up with her arms, which Lancer had just forced back into their sockets after freeing her.

In Lancer's hand was a spear nearly identical to Gae Bolg, but the similar spear had a slightly unique shape for the blade and decorative art, even a few different runes. From the other side of Caster, a spear just as similar to the other flew from the ground and towards Lancer, landing in her outstretched hand.

"Saber, retreat for now and protect your Master from the Assassins still lurking around. The forest is no longer under magical influence, so you should be fine even in your state."

Saber simply nodded and leapt a few meters to land beside Lancer with swift thanks for her aid, Morgan left behind in unnatural silence as she seemed to be processing her situation. However, her brow twitched with fury as she heard the snapping of wood briefly before a final earth-shaking impact.

The massive tree cental to the forest had finally hit the ground after Scathach cleaved it cleanly in half, and the reason the roots had not made further attacks became clear. Caster had been utterly beaten in an instant after finally reaching her goal. She should have slain Saber's master instantly instead of using her to toy with Artoria, and she should have killed her sister as well along with her.

Instead, her own thirst for vengeance became the engineer of her defeat, and she soon found herself cursing Merlin as well, as he had to have known and manipulated her into this predicament. She could even imagine the look on his face, and the childish laughter... It was maddening.

Caster waved her staff and the white wooden doe pulling her chariot began to rise back into the air. As she ascended her staff began to gather curses in a thick orb of red-tinted darkness. Her expression was cold as ice, her brows tight and lips curling slightly in a frown. Within seconds, the orb was cast downward at Lancer, now alone while Saber took Irisviel somewhere safe.

Scathach muttered explicatives in old Irish as she began carving runes into the air with her spear. The runic circle she created consisted of five Algiz surrounding a central Ehwaz, producing a green ethereal shield that took shape as five layers of squares spinning alternatively from each layer before it. Caster's orb of compressed curses reached Lancer's runic shield, releasing a gale of wind from the clash's shockwave.

Caster smirked as the shield fell layer after layer until the final square shattered, and the orb exploded in the air and spread its curses around the entire area, covering dozens of meters in every direction of where Lancer stood. However, where Caster expected to see a struggling servant or even a corpse, there was nothing. Morgan le Fay's smirk swiftly faded as her eyes scanned the forest, unable to find her opponent.

After a few seconds, a streak of red emerged from beneath the forest canopy, and Caster's eyes widened in terror as she pulled the reigns of the doe in an attempt to dodge. Sher failed however, and the white doe took a direct hit from a crimson demonic spear that pierced through and nearly struck Caster herself.

Lancer's spear continued on for quite a way before it stopped in the air, and spun its blade back towards its wielder before returning like a boomerang to the forest below. As Caster wondered how the spear could reach so far, her question was answered by a brief burst of magical energy that propelled another spear towards her as her chariot fell, forcing her to jump from the wreckage as the spear caused the wooden chariot to explode.

Another burst of magical energy sent Lancer herself into the sky above Caster as she crashed into the ground, barely having survived the fall by using magecraft to stall her descent at the last moment.

Scathach caught the first spear as its path redirected to her airborne location. She smiled as she spun her body and held her spear firmly overhead, demonic magical energy powerfully emanating around the spear in a vicious whirlwind.

"It's over, Caster! _Gae_ _Bolg_ _Alternative_!"

As the spear burst from Lancer's hand, a black figure pushed Caster aside while another took the spear that would have slain her to his chest, before the spear pierced through the other side and into the ground behind them. Caster stared at the Assassin standing in front of her with a gaping hole in his torso, momentarily stunned at how narrowly she avoided death. The sacrificed Assassin began to glimmer with ether before fading away.

Lancer's smiled dropped and a scowl appeared upon her face, once again calling her thrown spear back as she landed a few meters away from where Caster and the other Assassin got back on their feet.

"Tch. Damn Assassins... You are only delaying the inevitable."

Two more skull-masked Assassins stepped out of the shadows as if to protect Caster, who had begun to smile once again before speaking to Lancer, now using words to do battle knowing that she would lose in combat as things stood.

"Are you sure you should be so focused upon _me_?"

Scathach raised an eyebrow but remained silent, deciding to humor Caster only because she knew that she could kill Caster and the Assassins once she put her mind to it. To this, Morgans venomous smile merely widened.

"As we speak, your Master teeters on the edge of dying at the hands of mankind's oldest and most powerful hero. Not to mention what is about to befall my pathetic _sister_."

Lancer began to smile as she swiftly replied, but then her lips twitched downward and her brow sharpened into a glare as she began to realize the true implications of Caster's words.

"My Master is probably the last person who needs my concern, or anyone else's for that matter. Certainly not yours. Saber-"

The massive clash of magical energy originating from Gilgamesh and Toshimi began to shake the city and ground underfoot, as Caster cut Lancer off with an evil smirk, and after delivering her prediction, began to laugh maniacally.

"Saber will soon be dead. Even if you left now... You would not reach her in time!"

Lancer's glare only grew stronger, but she couldn't help but turn her senses towards her allied Servant. Within moments, Scathach realized her own mistakes in this engagement.

"Shit...! Angra Mainyu!"

Lancer quickly turned on the heel of her foot and bolted back into the forest, leaving Caster laughing as the Assassins began to pursue Lancer once again, along with three more that emerged from the shadows as well.

#

Saber and Irisviel walked side-by-side through the silent forest, the only sounds to hear aside from their ragged breaths coming from the clash between Caster and Lancer. It hadn't even been a minute since the pair retreated, and the pursuing Assassins caught up and began their assault.

Saber took a deep breath and took a defensive stance beside Irisviel, her eyes darting from one shadow to the next. Her instincts proved invaluable as half a dozen daggers emerged from the darkness, only seen by a faint reflection of Excalibur's light upon their black blades.

Two were struck aside while Saber shielded Irisviel from another with the flat of her blade, and the last three dodged as Saber pulled Irisviel down. Taking advantage of Saber's defense of her Master, two Assassins dropped down form the branches of the trees around them, one attempting to bind Saber's shoulders with metal wire.

The other directly targeted Irisviel, causing her to stifle a scream as she was saved by Saber, who managed to slash through the wire before it caught hold of her and clash with the dagger of the Assassin, who used the clash to push himself away and back into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

While saving Irisviel, the unarmed Assassin who lost his wire recklessly tackled Saber, momentarily leaving Irisviel vulnerable. To take advantage of that opening, two additional Assassins rushed Irisviel with metal claws, and it seemed that she was about to die at their hands until the Assassin holding Saber in place was thrown at one of the attackers, while a beam of golden light pierced the other Assassin, leaving a massive hole in his head as he dispersed into particles of magical energy.

Saber began to breathe even more heavily, slashing through the two tangled Assassins beside a fearful Irisviel. Artoria quickly picked her Master up and began to run for the edge of the forest, which had finally come into sight. Three white masks blurred in the darkness in pursuit of them, telling Saber that the threat was not yet over.

Reaching the edge of the forest and emerging into the clear streets of the city, Saber was again brought to a halt and forced to set Irisviel down with a glint of fear in her own eyes, staring at a man covered in full-body and facial tattoos, who simply stood with his arms crossed and a feral grin. Behind Saber and her Master, the three remaining Assassins in pursuit stopped and spread out, cutting off any path of retreat for them. And then, Avenger spoke.

"There is nowhere left to run, Saber... Join me, and your Master will live. Refuse... And you will still join me, standing over her corpse."

Saber grit her teeth, weighing her options. Avenger could not be harmed thoughtlessly, as anything less than a one-hit-kill technique would mirror the wound due to his own Noble Phantasm, Verg Avesta. Specifically, rather than sharing the wound delivered upon him, the one who injured him would merely feel the pain of the wound.

Normally, Saber's extremely potent Magic Resistance would protect her from most of the reflected pain and even make Avenger's pain increase, but certain conditions of its activation would bypass even that. Because of this, in Saber's magically exhausted and wounded state, she could not attack him without a sure lethal strike.

To make matters even worse, two giant shadows began to rise on each side of Avenger, each taking the form of roughly 15ft tall bipedal wolf-like entities. Neither the Wolf Shades nor Assassins moved to attack, awaiting Saber's answer. Avenger quickly became impatient as Saber remained silent.

"If you cannot reach a decision, it will be forced upon you-"

As he spoke, one of the Assassins encircling Saber fell to the ground after a ringing gunshot, a bullet-hole piercing through his mask from behind. At the same time, a bear made of glimmering magical thread fell upon another Assassin from the sky, sinking its teeth into the shrouded figure's throat, and both Assassins faded away leaving one alive, who quickly returned to the shadows.

Avenger frowned slightly and looked to the side, his eyes finding a man smoking a cigarette and holding his Thompson Contender, with Angra Mainyu in his sights. Beside him landed the other two Einzbern homunculi, and the bear composed of their signature alchemical thread. Illyasviel slid down from Maya's back, her glare fixed upon Angra Mainyu as her raw emotions raged within her mind. Avenger returned a sharp glare of his own, instead focusing it upon Emiya Kiritsugu.

"You..."

"We meet again, Angra Mainyu. This time I'll make sure you never return... Avalon!"

Avenger stifled a growl and snarled, staring down the man that ultimately caused him to be denied revival time and time again, through his own actions and those of his descendants. No external change appeared after invoking the name of his Noble Phantasm, but Avenger could tell that it had activated successfully.

"No. This time, it will be you that perishes!"

Darkness spread around Avenger, and from it rose a dozen shadows in the shape of wolves, which charged towards Kiritsugu and the young Einzberns. The two giant bipedal wolves sprinted on all fours towards Saber, while Angra Mainyu himself drew his demonic claw-like blades, Zarich and Tawrich, and followed after them.

"Double Accel!"

Kiritsugu fired a shot at Avenger before taking aim at the approaching wolves, failing to hit his first target as Avenger ducked under the bullet before it was even out of the barrel. Assassin Emiya quickly reloaded his gun using Innate Time Control, withdrew a hand grenade from beneath his trench coat and tossed it at the oncoming enemies, drawing his combat knife immediately after.

As the grenade exploded and took out three of the wolf shades, Avenger's giant wolves leapt at Saber from each side in a pincer attack, slashing with their claws and baring their monstrous teeth. Saber slashed upwards as one of the giant shadows descended upon her, unable to kill the beast but managing to leave a gaping wound in its chest while repelling it. The other she barely guarded against as its claws met Excalibur, followed by the shadow beast biting down upon the blade to keep it locked in place.

Saber merely glared and released golden light from Excalibur, withdrawing the blade from its maw and removing its lower jaw in the process. Avenger aimed to attack using the opening, but was instead forced to block Excalibur using his comparatively weak weapons, which shattered on impact.

However, his minor distraction was enough for the other shadow giant to resume its attack, at the same time as the jawless one. Both swept their claws in a wide arc, each beside the other as Excalibur blocked both at the same time. Blocking the attack came at a price, lifting Saber off her feet and sent flying backwards, leaving Irisviel alone beside Avenger as the wolf giants continued after Saber.

"This ends now!"

Avenger grabbed Irisviel by her throat and began to choke the life out of her with a wide sadistic grin, drawing Kiritsugu's attention away from the last few wolves that hounded him.

After the initial explosion of his grenade, Assassin Emiya activated his Innate Time Control Squared, leaping into the wolves slashing and stabbing with his knife in his left-hand to kill two wolves with each stroke while firing the next shot of his Contender and causing the slain wolves to explode from the inside, spreading the curses of Angra Mainyu.

Kiritsugu jumped away from the exploding wolves, still getting splashed by the curses. For a moment his mind was assaulted by malicious impulses and screams of horror and pain, and then the curses evaporated from his body as Avalon expelled them. That was when he saw his wife in the hands of Avenger, and quickly reacted in order to save her.

"You two, get in the air!"

Maya and Illya did as ordered by Kiritsugu, the thread bear holding off the shadow wolves for just long enough to allow their escape. As soon as their feet left the ground, they could hear the distinct sound of grenade pins being pull, and watched as three grenades were thrown into the midst of the wolves, spaced out for maximum effect.

Kiritsugu left the wolves behind as his grenades exploded and covered his advance, but two survived and leapt towards him, keeping him away from Irisviel for a second too long. The first was shot by the Thompson Contender, but the second latched onto his leg with its jaws, drawing blood and forcing him to stop and stab the shade in the head.

As he turned back to Irisviel, Avengers tendrils had her bound and her eyes rolled backward in their sockets as tears streamed down her face alongside drool from her open and quivering lips. Her hands futilely clutched at those of Avenger as his grip only tightened, and then her arms fell to the side limp.

"IRI!"

Kiritsugu was consumed by fury and threw his knife at Avenger's back, reloading his gun and aiming it with haste.

However, Angra Mainyu turned to face him, swinging Irisviel around in the path of the knife. For a moment both foes thought the blade would sink into Irisviel's flesh, but it was suddenly shot down by a shining sword made from Mayasviel's thread.

Avenger growled in minor frustration, but held Irisviel in place as her death rapidly approached with each passing second, deterring Kiritsugu and Maya from taking a shot at him.

"You are too late..."

Illyasviel wailed and attempted to jump from Mayasviels back in a suicidal attack on Avenger to save her mother, but Maya refused to let go as the stunted homunculus fought her grip with fury worthy of a berserker. Mayasviel was forced to knock Illyasviel unconscious, tying her to her back with glowing threads.

From behind Avenger, the last remaining giant shade rose from the shadows upon the ground, however it was missing an entire arm and lower jaw. The other had been slain as a sacrificial pawn that allowed Saber to be brought down, yet something worse than defeat had befallen Artoria Pendragon.

Beside the wolf-like entity, a servant with black armor covered in red veins and a similar visor rose from the shadows, immediately recognizable as Saber, or what used to be her. Now, her golden hair seemed less saturated, and her skin became ghostly pale. Excalibur was held in her right hand, but even the Holy Sword was tainted as black as the Servant wielding it.

Kiritsugu glared at Avenger, barely capable of restraining himself from trying to kill him at the cost of his own life. With Irisviel as a hostage until she died from asphyxiation and Saber's corruption, he may not even be able to accomplish that.

Lancer finally arrived on scene, much too late just as Morgan predicted. Her expression was tight, cold and emotionless, but underneath that she was as furious as the others. She landed beside Kiritsugu and placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to convince him to retreat as much as she was trying to convince herself. It was at that time that Irisviel's body began to glow faintly, slowly breaking apart into particles of light.

"We need to leave. If we stay here... both of us will die."

Kiritsugu did not want to listen to Lancer, he wanted to rush in and kill him or die trying, but he knew that she was correct. Aside from Saber Alter and Avenger, they still had to worry about Caster and possibly even Lancer Alter, who was unable to be found after his retreat. Not to mention, the other battles were all over by now, and reinforcements of their own arriving in time was highly unlikely.

Despite his rage, his cold logic reigned supreme within his mind, telling him that if they died now, the war was lost, and the existence of humanity along with it. Kiritsugu's glare never left even as he turned around, cursing Avenger in his thoughts in the worst ways he could think of, swearing to kill the bastard at any cost. Kiritsugu disappeared into the shadows and his floating Master quickly followed, leaving Scathach alone to glare at Avenger and his silent minions.

"You have made a grave mistake, Angra Mainyu. Whatever hell you endured in life will hold no comparison to what awaits you..."

Scathach left with those words as a parting gift, leaving a crazed Avenger laughing maniacally as though her threat had no effect. Wordlessly he turned the opposite direction as his laughter died down, and disappeared into the dark forest along with Saber Alter as the wounded shade merged back into his shadow. The final battle of the night ended in Angra Mainyu's total victory.

#

Elsewhere, within the ruins of Homurahara Academy, Ruler stood amongst the remaining Servants as they arrived back at their base and gathered in the infirmary, not a single person without an expression of fury and defeat on their faces.

Even Toshimi, who had woken from her sudden loss of consciousnesses, sat against a pillow on her cot in the infirmary with fists clenched until her knuckles were white, looking as if she would leave and destroy Avenger and his Servants immediately if she could bring herself to stand. Silence reigned until the last member arrived, after which Ruler took a moment to gather her thoughts before finally speaking.

"This war has only just begun. We cannot lose hope. Now that Avenger has grown in strength and stolen from us a powerful ally... We must rise from this defeat, and destroy him. Rest, heal, and by tomorrow... Be prepared to win at any cost."

Ruler turned away from the group in silence, leaving them all to process her words and the events of the first night. However, each of them was already prepared. They would not allow a repeat of these events, under any circumstances.


End file.
